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Letter from the Committee
Sacrifice
In the moment of greatest peril, the hero dashes in to confront the threat. They deal with their worst fears and selflessly prepare to sacrifice everything for the cause of good. Against all odds, their sacrifice conquers evil, and good wins.
No doubt you have encountered this plot before. You may have even performed a few of them in competition! Why do these storylines appeal to us? Fictional heroism and sacrifice challenge our own altruism. If we found ourselves in similar circumstances, would we be able to make the hard choice? We likely imagine that while it would not be easy, and if the stakes were high enough, our best heart intentions would overcome fear and we would do what was necessary.
Apply this idea to your everyday life, to real-life scenarios. Perhaps we would make the sacrifice. However, if we are not faithful in the small things, with minor choices of sacrifice each day, will we be equipped or strengthened to handle the larger things when the stakes are raised?
Our earthly, finite selves cling to what is easy, safe, or pleasurable. Yet, believers are called to abandon everything to wholeheartedly follow the Lord. Does this mean that we trade all comforts for discomforts? Especially in the beginning of change or surrender, we will experience discomfort. However, when we let go of what is deemed valuable by the world, we exchange it for something infinitely richer—we gain Him. He is truly everything.
In the habit of sacrifice, our hearts, our desires, and our comfort zones are transformed to align with His heart and desires. This is when we can live in His best, in Him. This month, in the spirit of Mark 8:36, we encourage you to join us in pondering two questions. First, how can you lean into Christ’s fullness by living sacrificially today? Second, how does Christ’s ultimate sacrifice enable you to obey in our prompt to live sacrificially?
In closing, we leave you with lyrics from the worship song, “Above All”:
Above all kingdoms, above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the Earth
There’s no way to measure what You’re worth
Crucified, laid behind a stone
You lived to die, rejected and alone
Like a rose, trampled on the ground
You took the fall, and thought of me
Above all
Your Stoa Alumni Committee,
Samuel Durand (AR), Nicole Kaiser (MT), Alyssa Sloneker (AR), Denise Sprimont-Vasquez (VA), Elizabeth Stapleton (OK), and David Vasquez (VA)
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