When I read the book “Radical Together” by David Platt, among the MANY awesome quotes that I wrote down, there was one quote that really resonated with me:

“We must be willing to sacrifice good things in the church in order to experience the great things of God.” (page 9)

What a profound statement that encapsulates so many of the issues I see in the Church in America today…we are so focused on programs and entertainment rather than being missional and building the Church like Jesus did, and it is detrimental in so many ways. Simple is the way to go. We have to be willing to let go of “good things” to make room for what God wants to do.

I also think we can rephrase this slightly to apply more broadly to our lives:
 
“We must be willing to sacrifice good things in life in order to experience the great things of God.”

“Sacrificing the good for the great” is a phrase you will hear in our home quite often these days, because it has really challenged how we approach life and it’s helping us to learn to say “no” much more. It has helped us to look at our lives with a long-term perspective rather than focusing on the “instant gratification” that is so pervasive in our society.

What does this currently look like in our daily lives?

• Sacrificing (insert item/activity here) for the “great” of being debt free in a year. Financial freedom will allow us to more freely serve God wherever He leads, so we’re running with “gazelle intensity” toward that goal.
• Sacrificing that piece of cake/junk food for the “great” of losing weight and being healthy.
• Sacrificing (insert activity here) for the “great” of having a strong and healthy marriage due to time invested in each other.
• “Sacrificing” every other weekend to be relief houseparents at the Milton Hershey School for the “great” of investing in the lives of these precious children.

Taking the time to evaluate where we are spending our time and money has really changed our perspective…and I’m really excited to see what God does as we continue to seek to serve Him more fully with our resources.