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Day 2 Journal. 02/15/11. Today's entry in my growth journal is on Matthew 16:13-28. It's good to just cover one section of the Bible at a time. You get a flow that way. Yesterday's post was about believing and believing confidently despite not having one shred of proof of what you believe in, outside of your own testimony. That's just the way it is. Today will cover what all you're willing to give up for what you believe in. That's called sacrifice. I am so tired of today's wimpy version of sacrifice that you see day in and day out in the namesake of Christianity. The majority of Christians do not know the meaning of the word SACRIFICE. We give $10 extra into church funds. Oh, that's a pizza I could have bought. Oh, God, you really twisted my arm for that one. We give 3 hrs of time helping to organize a clean up effort. That's 3 hrs I could have spent at the mall, c'mon. We take notice of a person who doesn't really make an impression on us and we feel like we've done a good thing and that'll do for now. We're lightweight Christians and we groan at even the most minimal of mundane every day service we could be doing. We're not even halfway there. The name of the game in Christianity is to be selfless. To give of yourself. To give to others what you would hold off for yourself. Generous beyond the norm. And not only that, but to think of it as something that should have been done all along instead of something so above and beyond extra that we deserve extra credit for it. God's not impressed. No matter what you do. No matter what great things you feel like you're doing for the Kingdom, it's not anything worth bragging about. God invites you to give of yourself freely. You give not to get, but simply because of what you've already got. If everyone completely emptied themselves out each time the opportunity came about, the world would be such a much better place. If everyone gave it all, we'd have so much more. There's nothing in this life you can't live without except for God. He's the air we breathe. And as long as we have Him, it doesn't matter what we gain and what we give. So it's okay to give more, even if it hurts. What you give up for Him will come back to you. And if you take from Him, it will be taken away from you.
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