Sacrifice is an element of Christmas that is often overlooked and underappreciated. Almost everyone recognizes Christmas as a time of giving. We buy gifts for our family, put a little change in the red kettles, and drop a little more in the church offering plate this time of year. It's great to have a giving spirit, but sometimes we get that confused with being sacrificial. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a sacrifice is, "An act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy." This is different from a gift in a few ways: 1. You must give up something, 2. It must be of value to you, and 3. You must give it up for the greater good. All three of these elements must be in place for it to be considered a sacrifice.

Sacrifice is a learned skill- it's difficult at first but becomes easier with practice. It's so easy to become stingy in this materialistic society we live in today, but mastering the art of sacrifice will bring you more joy and peace than owning any earthly possession. We have become so consumed with ourselves that we have forgotten that God calls us to make sacrifices. We give Him so many excuses like, "I'm not in a place right now where I can give a lot of money away," or "I just spent a lot of money on nice presents for everyone, that should be enough," or even "Why would He have blessed me with this if He only wanted me to give it away?" These are just sad attempts for us to rationalize our greediness, though. Sacrifice must hurt, maybe a little or maybe a lot, but we have to give up something of value to us for it to be a true sacrifice.

We should be even more inspired to be sacrificial around Christmas as we reflect on the sacrifice God sent to take our place. Jesus was the spotless lamb, and Christmas is the time we celebrate His entrance into the world. If we want to know what a pure sacrifice looks like, Jesus is the perfect example. God gave up His perfect, invaluable Son to take our place because we could not save ourselves, which is the crowning illustration of a true sacrifice.

This Christmas, I'm challenging you to make a sacrifice, but be aware not all sacrifices involve money and possessions. Sometimes the hardest sacrifices God calls us to make are those involving our time because it's hard to cram one more thing into our already jam-packed lives. Although, those sacrifices are often the most pure and meaningful, so don't be hesitant to spend time with someone this holiday season. Instead of dropping off gifts and rushing away to get more things done, spend time with the person you bought the gift for or spend time with an elderly neighbor whom you know won't have much company this holiday. Sacrificing your time can really touch someone's heart and mean more to them than any present or monetary gift. That's not to say financial sacrifices aren't important, though. There are many ways to sacrifice monetarily this Christmas, and some of those can go far to improve someone's quality of life. There are countless organizations you can donate to, one of my favorites at Christmastime being the Samaritan's Purse Gift Catalog (https://www.samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/samaritans-purse-gift-catalog-electronic-version/), but don't be afraid to step out and make your own ministry. There are people in your community with hurting with all kinds of different needs, so take it up on your own to help others.

Sacrifice may hurt at first, but when God calls you to give something up for His greater good, you can be certain there is a beautiful plan behind it.