sacrifice.

Sometimes once a month I go without eating food for two meals and I’m gonna be honest it can be way more difficult for me than it should be. Somehow those couple hours without any food makes me feel like I’m a homeless rat begging hopelessly for a stale biscuit from an old man. Which makes no sense but that’s about where my brain is when I’m hangry. But this fast Sunday, I really got thinking about why the church urges us to fast and what the meaning behind it is. I came to the conclusion that the whole purpose behind it is having the ability to give something up to receive something better. To sacrifice something you depend heavily upon because you care about something greater. It’s not just about going without food for an amount of time, it’s about getting over the temptation to give in because you want to show the Savior that His world changing sacrifice was worth the few hours of small sacrifice you give back. Whether it’s fasting, paying tithing, or spending and dedicating time to callings and gospel study, it is a constant choice to see if the sacrifice of giving something up to God is worth it to you. That’s what the gospel has been all about dating back to stories in the scriptures. Abraham and Isaac practiced this as Abraham nearly gave up his own son to obey God’s commands. Lehi and Nephi gave up all of their belongings and the place they lived to carry out the things which God needed them to do. Joseph Smith dedicated so much time and effort sacrificing so much because he cared so much about bringing the restored gospel back to the earth. The Savior, Jesus Christ, gave the ultimate sacrifice of His own life because He didn’t want everyone else to have to go through that sacrifice. I am so grateful for Him. Each day He helps me and guides me to remember who I am and what I am willing to give up to become more like Him. I can’t wait to be able to give everything up to serve Him for a year and a half and be able to further strengthen my testimony and find other’s who need a testimony of the great atoning sacrifice. He loves. He heals. He changes. I hope to be able to give back even the smallest sacrifices to Him to show that I believe that.

3 Nephi 9:20- And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

Love, Lily