The mother who loves her child thinks no sacrifice too great for it. Even
her life will she give for it, if need be. The man who loves his country
will, if the need should arise, count no sacrifice too great. He who loves
God as truly as the mother loves her child or the patriot loves his
country is willing to sacrifice for God. Abraham proved his love by not
withholding his son. He offered him freely in obedience to God’s command.
Paul loved, and as a result he counted not his life dear to himself so
that he might do the work of God. Christ so loved the world that he
sacrificed everything for our salvation.
We say that we love this glorious gospel; we say we desire to see it
spread to the ends of the earth; but how much do we love it compared with
our love of self? Do we love it more than self, or equal with self, or far
less than self? Many persons spend willingly and even lavishly for self
who give sparingly and reluctantly to God. They spend more for their
pleasures than they give. Some spend more for candy than they give to
missions. Some spend more for gasoline for pleasure-riding than they give
to all causes. In fact, some spend so much on their own selfish desires
that when a need of God’s work is presented they can truly say, “I can not
give much.” They might feel disposed to give if they had anything to give,
but are they willing to deny themselves of some self-gratification in
order to have something to give? There is the test of love that proves its
real direction—whether it runs out selfward or Godward. If we love God and
souls as much as we love self, we can spend money for them just as
willingly and with as little reluctance or regret to see it go as if it
were being spent for ourselves. If we can not spend for God and his work
more willingly than for self, it is because we do not love him more than
self. If we do not get more pleasure out of giving than we do out of
consuming, we may well question both the amount and quality of our love
and its direction. Often the work of God must go on crutches because of
lack of means while professors live in luxury.
There is no way to avoid the issue. There is plenty of money so that all
the work of the church could be properly financed and no undue burden rest
upon any. The fact is, there are too many whose love is wanting in that
quality which draws out their hearts into the work of God until they are
willing to sacrifice for it. It is true that there are many who do love
and who prove it by their sacrifices. But it is just as true that there
are many others who do not deny themselves and will not even from a sense
of duty, to say nothing of making willing sacrifices through the prompting
of love.
It is time that we heard more of the practical side of love preached from
the pulpit and that people who profess salvation and at the same time
manifest an indifference toward the salvation of souls and the work of the
church in general should not be left to drift along in coldness and be
lost at last. A sacrificing person or a sacrificing church will be
spiritual if the sacrifice is prompted by love. People who are willing to
serve and sacrifice rarely backslide.