Sacrificial Love is the most powerful type of true love that exists. This is a love that comes without strings... without expectations... and without any thought to the cost that come to ourselves.
Perhaps for a young mama this means that she has sacrificed her own dreams and plans to put her child in the front. Perhaps this means sacrificing our energy or time to take our lunch hour to listen once again to a co-worker's story. Perhaps this means coming along side an elderly neighbor to help them with mowing their lawn or grocery shopping. Perhaps this is encouraging a friend through a hand written note.
Whatever sacrificial love looks like in our lives, it is giving extravagantly each and everyday when no one is watching. It is the little things that we do that have power to change our world through sacrificial love.
It is the words of hope spoken to those going through a dark season in life. It is the countless prayers, believing that there is still hope to be found. It is the concept of living beyond what comes easy to ourselves and sacrificing so that someone else can be loved extravagantly and unconditionally.
Irena Sendler, the woman that I mentioned at the beginning jumped in to give sacrificial love to thousands of people in their most crisis moments. But despite being a hero to thousands of people (including myself) Irena continued to say until her death that despite the thousands that she saved, the way that she lost family and friends, and the cost to herself as she was tortured... she wasn't the hero.
She went on to say that it was the mothers who had given up in sacrificial love the thing that they loved most... their children. It was the mothers who never saw their children again (due to death in a concentration camp). It was the mothers who sacrificed to trust a stranger to smuggle their children out of the ghetto to be hid with other strangers for the remainder of the war. It was the mothers who sacrificed, realizing that instead of their love, it would be another's who would guide their children.
And then it was these adoptive/foster mamas who sacrificed their own rations of food, clothing, basic needs, and necessities for a child that they didn't know. It was these mamas who cared for, held, fed, wiped the tears of, rocked to sleep, fell in love with, and fully adopted these precious ones that they were given at great risk to their own families. And then almost 4-6 years later, after the war had ended, it was these foster mamas who sacrificially gave up these children that they had come to love so that they could return to their extended family members. As Irena Sendler said... it was sacrificial love that changed the course of history for everyone involved.
Dear friends, let us resolve to go bravely forward and walk boldly living out sacrificial love. Let us rest on who God is and His character to give us the strength and let us jump into the deep end of true sacrificial love. Our attempts to love people in this way may not be rewarded that we can see right here on this earth, but one thing is for sure... sacrificial love is never a waste. Love never dies. Love has the power to change anything. Don't stop. Keep going. Keep loving the people around you no matter the response and know that the sacrificial love you invest (even if you don't know what you are doing or feel like you don't know how to start at the beginning) will have the power to change the world.
"Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always 'me first'...
It takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies."
-I Corinthians 13, The Message-
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always 'me first'...
It takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies."
-I Corinthians 13, The Message-
If you are interested in learning more about Irena Sendler you can watch the Hallmark Movie, The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, you can find purchase it on Amazon HERE.
Looking for past From Hope Valley Devotionals? You can click HERE to find a complete listing of all of the devotionals!
I receive several emails a week asking where you can watch older episodes of "When Calls the Heart". If you have a Netflix account you can find seasons 1-3 there or you can purchase them on Amazon. You can purchase and watch all of the seasons and episodes by clicking on the links below:
*Please note that the quotes used in these weekly devotionals are the sole intellectual property of Hallmark Channel, WCTH, & Crown Media, LLC. These on-line posts are in no way supported, endorsed or affiliated with WCTH, Hallmark Channel, or Crown Media. They are simply encouragement inspired by Janette Oke and this precious show.*
