To the question, is the Christian life one of sacrifice, I would answer certainly. As Christians we need to change many of our old ways, forms of entertainment, and levels of comfort to follow Jesus. While many in the world say that serving Jesus requires one to sacrifice too much, I contend that the sacrifices we make pale in comparison to the joy and privilege of serving Christ and the blessings we receive in return. I like what the great 19th century British missionary and explorer to the continent of Africa, David Livingstone, shared on this point: “If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?”1 In addition, Livingstone said: “People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege.”2
Non-Christians, as well as many Christians, view this whole question of sacrifice verses privilege in the wrong way. The Apostle Paul had the right perspective here when he shared: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18).
I believe when we truly comprehend just how special we are to God, just who we are in Christ, how wonderful it is to be a Christian, and how we will spend eternity, with a glorified body, with Jesus in heaven, then spending our waking hours serving the Lord will not only prove a great privilege but a delight and joy that far outweighs all the sacrifices we are called to make.
Sadly, many Christians fear the things they must give up when they turn their whole lives over to Christ, instead of the blessings they will gain. While we are all wired to want comfort over pain and suffering, when a person accepts Christ as their Lord and Savior, it’s as if Jesus rewires our circuitry so that the joys of sacrificing and suffering for Him override the pleasures of this world.
I believe that David Livingstone, who I quoted above, understood, perhaps more than anyone else in modern times, how serving and sacrificing for Christ can’t begin to compare with the amazing privilege of being used by Jesus for kingdom purposes and spreading the Gospel to those who had never heard the good news.
In closing I would like to share one more quote by David Livingstone. The occasion for this quote was in response to the question of how was he able to make such a great sacrifice in dedicating his life to serving as a missionary in Africa, instead of living a life of comfort in England. The audience he shared these words with was in a speech he gave at Cambridge University in 1857:
“For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. . . . Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word in such a view, and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.”3
Livingstone understood, I truly believe, how glorifying God and experiencing joy go hand in hand even when sacrifice, self-denial, and suffering are often required of the Christian!
1 TOP 25 QUOTES BY DAVID LIVINGSTONE (of 64) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
2 TOP 25 QUOTES BY DAVID LIVINGSTONE (of 64) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
3 “I never made a sacrifice” – Theology for the People (nickcady.org)