“Sacrifice is giving up something you love, for something you love more.”

“Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume: she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume…” ”
- John 12:1-7 (NIV)

PRINCIPLES OF SACRIFICE:
SACRIFICE IS ALWAYS

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty become rich.
- 2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV)

PRINCIPLES OF SACRIFICE:
SACRIFICE IS OFTEN

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages. He did not say this because he cared for the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
- John 12:4-6 (NIV)

“… every time Mary sought to do something for Jesus she was misunderstood. Her sister Martha misunderstood her when Mary sat at Jesus’ feet to hear Him teach the Word. Judas and the other disciples misunderstood her when she anointed Jesus. Her friends and neighbors misunderstood her when she came out of the house to meet Jesus after Lazarus had been buried. When we give Jesus Christ first place in our lives, we can expect to be misunderstood and criticized by those who claim to follow Him.”
- Warren Wiersbe

“It is an ancient strategy to divert attention away from one noble project and to disguise selfishness by speaking of another which ought to be done. Buildings shouldn’t be built at home because missionaries should be sent abroad, but in the end as with Judas, such disciples aren’t interested in buildings or missionaries, neither the poor or the anointing. The very use of the perfume pains such disciples. The threat of extravagant love challenges their heart.”
- Bill Banosky

PRINCIPLES OF SACRIFICE:
SACRIFICE IS A

Jesus says “You may be sure that wherever the good news is told all over the world, people will remember what she has done. And they will tell others.
- Mark 14:9 (CEV)

“In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept for you in heaven …”
- 1 Peter 1:3 (NIV)