Day 116 – Sacrifice vs Giving

This morning, I heard a great message at Iglesia Celebracion (Jorge’s Church) on “Generosity”…

First off, generosity is not limited to money, but it also includes time, talents, love, patience, etc.  (Keep in mind that this is a very poor congregation.) Next, Christ is the perfect example of generosity (to the extent that He gave His life for our sins).  So, the question is “are you generous”?  And the assertion is that it is impossible to have Jesus Christ in your heart and not be generous (with all things – specifically your love).

This message led Bonnie and I to talk about the difference between generosity vs. sacrifice…  In light of the fact that we consistently here that Jesus sacrificed everything for us and was the “sacrificial lamb”, etc.  Here’s what we came up with:  A man who has much and gives what is extra to the poor is generous.  He didn’t have to give anything to the poor.  He could have kept the extra for himself.  Yet, a man who has not even enough for himself and give of what little he has to the poor, that man sacrifices for others.

In simple words, sacrifice is sharing / giving even when you don’t want to.  For example, when you only have enough food / drink for your family / friends and an unexpected guest shows up at the door…  The sacrificial act would be to have everyone have a little less than a full plate and offer them to join in.

Though this isn’t what we want to do, but it is what we are called to do, and it is definitely what Jesus did for us.

I know, sacrificing stinks :)

Hebrews 13:16 – “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

===================

A new team of 27 High School Students arrived from Victory Church in Pennsylvania this afternoon.  As the team is so large, we decided to split them into two groups for our afternoon prayer walk.  I took my group down to the Juan Pablo barrio to visit all of our regular friends as well as pray over some new friends who have fallen on hard times and are seeking.  Overall, though the group is young, I think this really opened their eyes to the fact that their is more to this world that “high school drama” and “video games”…  I’m really excited for this team as I believe the will be very receptive to the activities we have planned for them this week.