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.
Similarly, when we obey the law of sacrifice, and give things up for God, we usually end up relying and leaning more on God. The result of depending more on God is increased faith in him. Joseph Smith taught this truth in this powerful statement: “Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation” (Lectures on Faith [1985], 69). We sacrifice to develop increased faith in God.
Sacrifice allows us to show God we truly love Him: If you asked people “What is love?” many people might wax poetic or talk of romance and long walks on the beach. But that is not what real love is. Real love is defined in John 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” In other words, love is sacrifice. It is placing the comfort and well-being of another above our own. When we understand that love is a verb—an action, and not just an emotion, we begin to understand how we can develop love for others, and for God: by placing their well being and desires above our own. Jesus showed the Father that He loved him perfectly when he submitted His will to the will of the Father. Similarly, a husband shows his wife he loves her when he places her needs above his own—when he goes and watches a chick flick with her instead of an action flick. It is easy to say “I love you,” both to our family, and to God. But when we sacrifice love is actually lived and shown. “The law of sacrifice provides an opportunity for us to prove to the Lord that we love Him more than any other thing” (M. Russell Ballard, “The Law of Sacrifice,” Ensign, Oct. 1998, 7).
Sacrifice teaches us our true priorities in life: Other than the Savior’s infinite atoning sacrifice, perhaps that greatest example of sacrifice recorded in the scriptures is when Abraham was commanded to offer up and kill his only begotten son Isaac as a sacrifice to the Lord (see Genesis 22:1-12). Brother Truman G. Madsen—a former BYU professor—tells about a visit he made to Israel with President Hugh B. Brown in a valley known as Hebron, where tradition has it that the tomb of Father Abraham is located. Brother Madsen asked President Brown, “What are the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?” After a short moment of thought, President Brown answered, “Posterity.”
Brother Madsen writes: “I almost burst out, ‘Why, then, was Abraham commanded to go to Mount Moriah and offer his only hope of posterity?’
“It was clear that [President Brown], nearly ninety, had thought and prayed and wept over that question before. He finally said, ‘Abraham needed to learn something about Abraham’ ” (The Highest in Us [1978], 49). What did Abraham learn from this heart wrenching experience? Well, for one, that Abraham actually did love God more than anything else. Notice what the Lord himself says to Abraham: “For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me” (Genesis 22:12). God knew, and Abraham now knew, that God was #1 in his life. This priority was shown through what Abraham was willing to sacrifice. If Abraham had said “no, “then it would have reflected that he loved Isaac more than God. Similarly, when we sacrifice our money to pay fast offerings, or our time to give service, or our leisure time to attend the temple, we are showing God that we love him more than money, time, and entertainment.
Sacrifice is a medium for God to bless us: There is a great line in the classic hymn Praise to the Man (Hymn #27): “Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven.” That is a true statement, and is one of the reasons God asks us to sacrifice. He wants to bless us, and when we give things up for Him He is able to pour those blessings out on us more abundantly. Mark 10:29-30 teaches this principle of sacrifice well. A rich young man had just been asked by Jesus to sacrifice his riches and give to the poor, which he apparently refused to do. Peter steps up and says, “Hey, we have sacrificed everything to follow you!” to which Jesus responds, “There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.” In other words, we will receive back 100 times whatever we give up. That is not a sacrifice; that is an investment! President Gordon B. Hinckley said this: “You are making a sacrifice, but it is not a sacrifice because you will get more than you give up, you will gain more than you give, and it will prove to be an investment with tremendous returns. It will prove to be a blessing instead of a sacrifice” (“Excerpts from Recent Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley,” Ensign, Sept. 1997, 72). We testify this principle is true.
Elder M. Russell Ballard said once: “If I have a fear, it is that the principle of sacrifice may be slipping away from us. This principle is a law of God. We are obliged to understand it and practice it. If being a member of this Church becomes too easy, testimonies will become shallow, and the roots of testimony will not go down into the soil of faith as they did with our pioneer forefathers. May God grant each of us an understanding of the law of sacrifice and a conviction that it is necessary today. It is vitally important that we understand this law and live it.” (M. Russell Ballard, “The Law of Sacrifice,” Ensign, Oct. 1998, 13). We hope this post has helped give us a better understanding of why we should live the divine law of sacrifice, and the desire to live it so that we may develop faith, show God we love Him, learn our true priorities in life, and be increasingly blessed.
