Give Yourself Away

What does true sacrifice mean to you? What would you freely give up for someone? Is it your time? Your money? Your career? Your life? Last night, I met a guy who gave his all for someone very close to him. Let me share his story.

I only know his first name is Chris. He came to our small group of men to share his story of faith, love and true sacrifice. Chris is a Texas native and has only been in Cincinnati for a short period of time. Upon his arrival, Chris prayed for God to provide him a church home and the answer was Vineyard West Side. Chris came and he immediately felt like this was his family. He has only been to church for a couple of weeks, and already he has found a place where his community would love him and accept him for who he is.
Last night, as our group discussed the topic of sacrifice, I sat across from Chris and watched him slowly open up to share a story that completely broke me. The question came up, "What does true sacrifice look like and do we have what it takes to do it"? Chris answered with this: His wife of fifteen years, his soul mate, had sclerosis of the liver which is a life ending disease. Chris sacrificed everything to take care of his wife until her last breath. He gave up his job to be with her. He had no income to pay for food or transportation. He spent every second of his life to stay by her side and walk this out with her. Eventually the disease would prevail and his wife died in his arms. Chris would spend the next several months receiving counseling and would eventually find himself at the mercy of alcohol to ease the pain of his loss.
When Chris moved to Cincinnati, he met another woman and began dating her. During there courtship, she discovered a lump on her neck. They went to see a Doctor and he delivered the devastating news. Without hesitation, Chris immediately vowed to his new love that he would be there for her. The cancer was already in stage four and had spread to lungs. After months of therapy and hospice, Chris again had the love of his life die in his arms.
After sharing his story, Chris wiped the tears from his eyes and spoke to us with an authoritative voice. He told us that we should not worry if we will ever be up to the task of giving up one's self for the life of another. God would provide! When Chris gave up everything to be with his wife, he still had everything he needed to live. He had food, shelter, transportation and strength to carry on. All of which God provided for him. Sacrifice was not something that he could prepare himself for. The circumstances arose and Chris simply set his fears aside and stepped up to the plate.

I believe that God knew that Chris would have the strength to sacrifice himself not only once, but twice to love and comfort one of God's daughters on their deathbed. Chris knew his role, he knew that God was asking him to do this for Him. It might seem like a crappy thing to be asked to do, but he will be rewarded greatly for it, if not in this life, then definitely the next. Nothing can prepare us for the storms. Nothing can prepare us for the life altering events that can and will take place. The only thing we can cling to is our faith in Christ and know that He is with us, no matter what. And I think that Jesus knows a little about giving up a life to benefit the lives of others. He paid the ultimate price for a world full of sinners.

I believe that it was U2's Bono that originally sang, "And you give . . . and you give . . . and you give yourself away". So again I ask, What does true sacrifice mean to you? Would you freely give your time, money, career or even your life for someone? How can you give yourself away?