The Ultimate sacrifice

What kinds of sacrifices can we make? Is tithing a sacrifice? What about keeping the Sabbath day Holy? Perhaps our service in the Church is a sacrifice. Do you sacrifice for your family? The question of life is simple: What do we sacrifice for the Lord?

Samuel told the people of Israel: "Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." (1 Samuel 15:22)

The sacrifice we make must be commanded by the Lord. This is why it is so important to have the Holy Ghost with us -- He will tell us exactly what to sacrifice. Though we would rather give token sacrifices, the Lord requires a real sacrifice of love.

Sacrifice is Love
Love as used in the Scriptures could be defined as: "sacrificing yourself to bless another. Every time we choose the right, every time we give up what we want for the Lord, every time we let go of an addiction or desire, every time we give ourselves to bless one of God's children we show love for Him.

For example, I was wondering how I could "fit in" scripture study every day because I'm so busy. Normally, I take time in the morning to go through my email, write in my journal, and make sure my work is done. It's my time when nobody is awake where I won't be disturbed, when I can do what I like. However, the Spirit whispers that I could use this time to be with Him, and do the email at work or during lunch. The sacrifice of my own desires of spending my time in worldly pursuits shows my love for Him.

Jesus defined love in the following scripture: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) Notice that it contains both elements: sacrifice, and blessing others. He was partly referring to His own sacrifice, where He would give up His life for all those who would follow Him.

Through His ultimate sacrifice we are all blessed, from the greatest to the least of God's children. This is called "Charity" or the pure love of Christ. Mormon implores us to, "pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ;" (Moroni 7:48)

We are filled with this love when we follow Christ by making the ultimate sacrifice.

The Ultimate Sacrifice
We hear about people who die making the "ultimate sacrifice" in a war or other line of duty. However, giving our lives may not always be the ultimate sacrifice. The only real sacrifice we can make is that of our will. Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained this concept, "The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we “give,” brothers and sisters, are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give! ...[it is] the only unconditional surrender which is also a total victory!"

To sacrifice means to give up something we desire. The "sacrifices" we make of the things of the world such as our money in paying tithing, our time in serving in the church, or even our lives, are all given, or on loan, to us from God. They are only metaphorical sacrifices. The real sacrifice is giving our heart or our will. For each person it will be different because we have different desires.

The "heart" as used in the scriptures may be defined as our deepest desires, or the will. Those things on which we have set our hearts, or the things we expect in our lives. How many of us know people who have broken hearts? The broken heart is when we lose or are denied the greatest desires of our heart. Some lose friends, relatives, abilities, a spouse, children, businesses, lands, and so forth. Some are denied marriage or children or some other righteous desire. If we are willing to let go of those things lost or withheld from us we can make the ultimate sacrifice. It's the sacrifice of our hearts that can help us to submit our will to God.

This choice is the most difficult of all. All those who don't believe in God are trying to avoid this sacrifice. Allow me an illustration: (If Elder Uchdorf can use his experience as a pilot to illustrate Gospel principles, I can use mine as a doctor.)

A twenty-year-old Mexican woman named Leticia came into my office in great distress. She was crying. Her problem was that she was gaining weight on a very low-calorie diet -- and now she even had diabetes! She was so frustrated! She had been to various specialists and had tried multiple medications, but they weren't helping -- she just continued to gain weight. I asked her to write down everything she ate for a couple of weeks and, sure enough, she was eating less than a thousand Calories per day, and had gained weight. We did some testing and found a hormone imbalance that caused her to be unable to use fat for energy. There are no medications for this particular problem, the only way to regulate the hormones is by forcing her liver to use fat with a very strict low-carbohydrate diet. She had to make a sacrifice -- either she had to live with the weight gain, obesity and diabetes, or she had to give up sugar and starch. As we discussed the specifics of her treatment she buried her face in her hands, "I'm never going to be healthy!" she blurted out.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because Mexican food is so good!"

At first she "went away sorrowing," because she didn't think she could do it. She tried several other treatments, but eventually came back and was able to submit completely to getting well. She made the sacrifice, lost weight, and she no longer has diabetes!

In coming to Earth all mankind has a common mandate -- sacrifice. We must make a sacrifice. In the hymn "Choose the Right" we sing, "There's a right and a wrong to every question..." People like to hear that they won't have to make a sacrifice. Leticia went away searching for an easier way. She didn't want to have to give up either one, but later discovered that the default of not sacrificing her favorite foods was always going to lead to worse disease.

A decision must be made. James McClatchy tells the story of Matt Thornton who was trying to transfer from one canoe to another while out on a lake. He got one foot in each canoe and while straddling the two canoes, he had a moment of indecision and they started moving apart, at some point he had to make a decision to jump into one or the other. He ended up in the water (like outer darkness).

Ultimately, we will either sacrifice God or the world. Either we do what we want, or what He wants. It's our choice. We are given freedom and God will always respect our freedom to choose. He will never cross the line of forcing us to do something against our will. However, The wonderful thing about this sacrifice is that as we progress, our hearts are changed like the people of King Benjamin: "the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." (Mosiah 5:2)

The way to do this is to put our faith in Christ. If we believe that He can make us well, that He can show us the way, then we will be obedient to His word. We take Him as our coach to Heaven, always looking to Him for direction. Moroni explains: "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ;" (Moroni 10:32)

Mormon tells us how the Sons of Mosiah were able to make the ultimate sacrifice. "...they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God." (Helaman 3:35)

A gradual process
In other words, it isn't an event, but rather a process that happens "line upon line, precept on precept, here a little and there a little..." The process "distils upon our souls as the dews from heaven." We are gradually changed as we fast and pray, and continue seeking His will for us. Our goals change from those of the world: money, lands, houses, and business to those things of the Lord: Holy things, The Holy Scriptures, the Holy Temple, The Holy Sabbath, The Holy Prophets who testify of Christ. Moreover, we seek the Holy Ghost to guide us in all things, every minute of every day we seek to serve the Lord by being obedient to His Holy Spirit.

Ultimately, we follow Jesus Christ. He sacrificed all things for us. He suffered more than any man can suffer. He suffered and died innocently. He was falsely accused. He was unjustly punished. He descended below all things so He would be able to raise us up to God. Ultimately, we "yield our hearts unto God" giving Him our whole heart, sacrificing our will to His. This is what Jesus did. He leads, we follow, making the ultimate sacrifice, or that of the will.

We wonder what benefit is it to give up our own desires and turn them over to the Lord. The Lord told Joseph Smith: "Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me." (D&C 97:8) To be accepted of Christ is to receive all that He has. He has all the Father has. This is the path to receiving every good thing. It is the path to happiness.

King Benjamin implores his people to "consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness." (Mosiah 2:41)

Happiness
If happiness is what you desire, I assure you it is not found in pills, money, food, or gratification of any desire. Happiness comes from following our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, into the depths of humility, sacrificing our desires, and submitting our will to His by keeping His commandments. This is the true path to happiness both in this life, and in Eternity!