Sacrifice Before Lent

BIBLICAL POINT OF REFERENCE:

"But as for you, be strong and do not slack off, for there shall be a reward for what you do."

~2 Chronicles 15:7

I have been given the wonderful challenge to give up something (a sacrifice, if you will) so that I may offer it up for participants in a retreat coming up. As we all know, especially during the Lenten season, finding the right thing or things to give up and work on can be very difficult, because there are so many things that we don't want to let go of. This time, however, I was given a simple answer pretty quickly, and it's something that I really don't want to give up until February (which, ironically, is right around the time Lent begins, so the sacrifice won't really end then either).

But this is what tells me it's the right thing to give up - because I really don't want to. So I spent a couple minutes arguing back and forth with God on why He should suggest something else for me to sacrifice - there was absolutely no way I wanted to go through with this thing, and the inner spiritual conflict was real. But as we all know, God knows what is best for us, and He wasn't budging on this one. So here I am now, struggling a lot to keep that sacrifice up, even though I just started it! You know all of those great leaders that say you won't get anywhere if you don't push yourself? It's perfectly true - you will not get anywhere if you don't push yourself. But something that is an advantage to us is that God is there to catch us when we fall and hold us up, even when the temptation is very real. My challenge for you ladies this week is to offer something up for someone else - even for only a week. On the days where the simple sacrifice is too tough, let God catch you and help you through it. Don't give up on this; you can push yourself, and God knows it too.

Your Laughing Sister, ​Callahan

Check out the PRAYER and WISDOM quotes pages for more inspiration!