Sacrifice Of Blessing
John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." (NKJV)
I was talking to some friends online and i learnt something important in my life today. It's really taken my perspective on blessing others to a whole new level. Some of my frens are experiencing difficult times, and yeah, i wanna help them with their problems.
I realised dat many times when I bless others, it's always out of the abundance which i have. Be it time, energy, money, attention, effort etc. But dat's easy :) What's even more challenging is blessing others and being a blessing when you have barely enough for your ownself. Now dat's wat i call sacrifice.
The bible tells us about a story when Jesus was in the temple watching the people as they gave their offerings to the Lord. Now many of these worshippers gave lots of gold and wat not to the house of the Lord! In modern day times, that would be the equivalent of giving tens of thousands of dollars at one go for a simple offering! However, these people gave out of their abundance.
Then came a poor widow and she threw in 2 mites into the offering bowl, an equivalent of 2 cents. 2 cents... wat can you buy with 2 cents these days? Barely anything.. most of us couldnt be bothered about 2 cents. But the bible says that Jesus singled her out as the example of a sacrificial giver, because unlike the rest, the women gave out of her poverty! So in comparing percentages, those ppl dat gave like tens of thousands probably only gave like 10%, 15% of wat they owned.. but for this widow, she gave 100%. She gave it ALL into the house of the Lord.
Just today, God is showing me dat i can be a greater blessing to others. Yes it is good to have abundance and we all should ask for abundance in our lives because God desires to give His riches to us as well! But then, it's easy to bless others when you in abundance of wealth, health and time~ It's the same with loving people who are easy to love. But when you bless others amidst your own poverty, now that is commendable. When you are tired but someone asks you for help, and you help, great. Or you have only $10 in ur wallet to last you the whole week, but a fren of yours needs $$ to support his or her family, and you bless dat person with the $10, now dat is a sacrifice of blessing, because not only do you bless others at your own expense, but now you are in deep need yourself.. It costs you something big. I wanna share the following passage taken from the book of Luke and herein lies my revelation.
Luke 6:27-36
27 "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.
29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.
30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.
31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
32 But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.
35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful."
Look at the words in BOLD. Dats the whole idea~
You know, i dream of giving tithes and offerings of tens of thousands of dollars and i know that to do dat, i must be stretched by God. I must expand my capacity! And if your dream is higher, you can expect greater challenge! And yea, i wanna challenge myself to bless others not only in my abundance but also in times where i struggle myself.
I wanna be a cell leader one day. And to me, the most important attribute a cgl must have, is dat of servanthood. A leader MUST lay down his life for his members no matter what. I believe that is a very impt thing to understand if you wanna be a great cgl. You must be willing to lay down ur life and dat means every aspect of who you are. Servanthood and a gd attitude will help a leader earn his members' respect and loyalty. And only when you have followers can you call yourself a leader.
So yeah, Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of the greatest leader ever! He had the most humble servanthood attitude and He demonstrated that on the cross when He shed His blood for us. God the Father showed His mercy and love for us by sacrificing His only Son so dat we can be blessed with salvation!
And i wanna be more like Jesus~ :)
I was talking to some friends online and i learnt something important in my life today. It's really taken my perspective on blessing others to a whole new level. Some of my frens are experiencing difficult times, and yeah, i wanna help them with their problems.
I realised dat many times when I bless others, it's always out of the abundance which i have. Be it time, energy, money, attention, effort etc. But dat's easy :) What's even more challenging is blessing others and being a blessing when you have barely enough for your ownself. Now dat's wat i call sacrifice.
The bible tells us about a story when Jesus was in the temple watching the people as they gave their offerings to the Lord. Now many of these worshippers gave lots of gold and wat not to the house of the Lord! In modern day times, that would be the equivalent of giving tens of thousands of dollars at one go for a simple offering! However, these people gave out of their abundance.
Then came a poor widow and she threw in 2 mites into the offering bowl, an equivalent of 2 cents. 2 cents... wat can you buy with 2 cents these days? Barely anything.. most of us couldnt be bothered about 2 cents. But the bible says that Jesus singled her out as the example of a sacrificial giver, because unlike the rest, the women gave out of her poverty! So in comparing percentages, those ppl dat gave like tens of thousands probably only gave like 10%, 15% of wat they owned.. but for this widow, she gave 100%. She gave it ALL into the house of the Lord.
Just today, God is showing me dat i can be a greater blessing to others. Yes it is good to have abundance and we all should ask for abundance in our lives because God desires to give His riches to us as well! But then, it's easy to bless others when you in abundance of wealth, health and time~ It's the same with loving people who are easy to love. But when you bless others amidst your own poverty, now that is commendable. When you are tired but someone asks you for help, and you help, great. Or you have only $10 in ur wallet to last you the whole week, but a fren of yours needs $$ to support his or her family, and you bless dat person with the $10, now dat is a sacrifice of blessing, because not only do you bless others at your own expense, but now you are in deep need yourself.. It costs you something big. I wanna share the following passage taken from the book of Luke and herein lies my revelation.
Luke 6:27-36
27 "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.
29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.
30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.
31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
32 But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.
35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful."
Look at the words in BOLD. Dats the whole idea~
You know, i dream of giving tithes and offerings of tens of thousands of dollars and i know that to do dat, i must be stretched by God. I must expand my capacity! And if your dream is higher, you can expect greater challenge! And yea, i wanna challenge myself to bless others not only in my abundance but also in times where i struggle myself.
I wanna be a cell leader one day. And to me, the most important attribute a cgl must have, is dat of servanthood. A leader MUST lay down his life for his members no matter what. I believe that is a very impt thing to understand if you wanna be a great cgl. You must be willing to lay down ur life and dat means every aspect of who you are. Servanthood and a gd attitude will help a leader earn his members' respect and loyalty. And only when you have followers can you call yourself a leader.
So yeah, Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of the greatest leader ever! He had the most humble servanthood attitude and He demonstrated that on the cross when He shed His blood for us. God the Father showed His mercy and love for us by sacrificing His only Son so dat we can be blessed with salvation!
And i wanna be more like Jesus~ :)
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