Being faithful members of this church Requires that we give a lot of things up. In other words, it requires us to make sacrifices. It is evidenced in the restored Church by giving up one day a week to worship, paying tithing, giving up the lusts of the natural man, giving of our talents, serving others, accepting and serving in Church callings, and setting up metal chairs for meetings. Lots of metal chairs. It is evidenced in the Aaronic priesthood holder collecting fast offerings, the teenager giving up early morning sleep to attend seminary, the young adult giving years to serve a mission, and above all by parents—mothers in particular—giving of almost life itself to help their children. From the very beginning of human history, when God commanded Adam and Eve to sacrifice a lamb, God has continued to ask His children to give things up to live the gospel and follow Him. Why does He do this, and how can this law of sacrifice be a great blessing for us if we will live it? Here are a few reasons:
Sacrifice develops faith: Suppose someone asked you to hammer a nail into a piece of wood. Sound easy, right? But what if you were asked to give up your right hand and then try to hammer it. Now that’s a little harder. Usually, to hammer in a nail, it takes two hands—one to hold the nail and one to swing the hammer. If you had to give up the use of your other hand, how do you do it? Well, the easiest option is to have someone or something else hold the nail—to rely on another set of hands.
