His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that. Ephesians 5:1–2 (MSG)
If people do nice things for others because it’ll get them somewhere down the road, that’s not sacrifice. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s simply the law of sowing and reaping.
When you focus on what you can get out of doing something, it’s not a sacrifice. When you get recognition for something and it betters your reputation, it’s not really a sacrifice either. There’s nothing wrong with going after a good reputation, but realize that in doing so, you’ll get some sort of payback. Paybacks are great, but we can’t expect them for everything we do. Sometimes we just won’t get any love and attention from people when we do things for them, but that doesn’t mean the sacrifice isn’t worth it.
Don’t limit yourself to “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” interactions. You’ll rob yourself of the sense of fulfilment you can get from true sacrifice that’s done out of love.
I like how The Message Bible paraphrases Philippians 2:1–4: “If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you... if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.”
It’s a good reminder to give and expect nothing in return!
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