Quotes About Sacrifice

When I was seventeen and in full obedience to my heart's most urgent commands, I stepped far from the pathway of normal life and in a moment's time ruined everything I loved –– I loved so deeply, and when the love was interrupted, when the incorporeal body of love shrank back in terror and my own body was locked away, it was hard for others to believe that a life so new could suffer so irrevocably. --Endless Love

Was love worth not having the life you wanted?

Your personality - the real you inside - was the price of beauty.

Maybe this was how you stayed sane in wartime: a handful of noble deeds amid the chaos.

Nothing got without pains but an ill name and long nails.

And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)

Father, may this be a year of considering our lives worth nothing to us, if only we may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given us—the task of testifying (by word and deed) to the gospel of your grace (Acts 20:24).

Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:43–45 NIV)

Jesus, today and every day, we declare that our hope is built on nothing else, nothing less, and nothing more than you and what you've done for us on the cross. We pray in your near and compassionate name. Amen.

But he [Jesus] has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Heb. 9:26–28 NIV)

No one yet grasped that your mortal punishment would bring our eternal peace, that your fatal wounding would secure our everlasting healing, and that your being crushed would lead to our being cherished by the thrice holy God (Isa. 53).

Jesus, you are the greatest promoter of love ever, for by your blood you have once and for all covered up, covered over, and carried away my sins forever. You'll never repeat my sinful matters to me or anyone else. How I praise you today for your great love for us! Continue to change my heart and channel my words, by your grace and for your glory and the good of others. I pray in your holy and kind name. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. You didn't consider your equality with God something to be held on to selfishly. You didn't love to be first. Rather, you emptied yourself by taking the very nature of a man—a servant man, a man who served me by fulfilling all the demands of the law for me and by exhausting God's judgment against all my sin on the cross. Now you ever live to serve me as my advocate, intercessor, and bridegroom.

Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. (Heb. 10:17–18 NIV)

Lord Jesus, you were the Good Samaritan to me, and you still are. But you didn't just find me beaten and broken alongside the road; you found me running as fast as I could from you. I know God and worship God only because you first cared for me, served me, loved me by giving your life for me. Make me a humble, grateful, joyful worship servant. I pray to your glory and by your grace. Amen.

Father, thank you for such a legal, lavish, and lively salvation. Rescue us in those delusional moments when we forget your forgetfulness, when we act as though Jesus' sacrifice for our sins wasn't enough, when we think there is something more we can do to gain your acceptance and enjoy your favor. We pray in Jesus' exalted name. Amen.

You are my head and I am in your heart, and that is enough. I love being loved by you, Lord Jesus. I love you only because you first loved me and gave yourself as a sacrifice of atonement and propitiation for my sins. I am presently and eternally grateful. I pray in your name, and for your glory. Amen.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:6–8 NIV).

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isa. 53:5 NIV)

Because of the gospel, throwing away my idols feels less like a painful sacrifice and more like a liberating dance. For all my "empty nothings" have ever given me is momentary pleasure and lasting regrets. Remind me of this all year long when I'm tempted to think otherwise.

Having loved his own who were in the world, he [Jesus] loved them to the end. (John 13:1 NIV)

Jesus, take my humble praise and purify it, magnify it, and cause it to be a sweet aroma in your heart.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, "King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Dan. 3:16–18 NIV)

In this next season of our lives, show us, Jesus, how to seek your kingdom first, above everything else. Rather than spending more money on ourselves, where would you have us invest our time, talent, and treasure; our energy, tears, and laughter? What new chapters of your story of redemption and restoration would you write through us? We pray with gratitude and anticipation, in your loving name. Amen.