Self Denial is Love - Day 219 Month 8-6 Week 32-2
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
2 Samuel 17:15-18:18, Proverbs 16:1-11, Ezekiel 21:1-16, Romans 15
Self Denial is Love
Sylvia will often tell a story from her childhood. The story would generally be about Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations when they would be eating their celebration turkey meal. I always thought that my family did not have a lot of money and that we were always strapped for cash. Meanwhile, we would have roast beef every Sunday, big turkeys at Thanksgiving and Christmas. We went on vacations and we had a nice home on a large property. I figured we were poor. Then Sylvia would share her childhood, and they had much less. I often need to realize that I was brought up in privilege but never realized it.
Sylvia’s mom, when serving a small turkey or chicken, would always put the neck on her plate. She told the family that she loved the neck of the turkey. To be honest, I also like the neck, but that’s because I like the dark meat of the turkey. I would take the neck along with other larger pieces of dark meat and the token white meat. Syl’s mom took the neck because she was denying herself in order for the rest of the family to have plenty, and I’m sure she took any of the leftovers to make additional meals. Syl would even explain how some weeks they’d start the week with a solid meal, and by the end of the week it may turn into soup or stew based on the first meal of the week. Her family managed but, as you can imagine, her mom was an incredible woman who kept her family fed and clothed even though Sylvia’s father died when Sylvia was 16, left his family thousands of dollars in debt and her mom begging the bank not to take the house away to cover the debt. Her mom was able to stay in their home until she eventually went to a long term care facility when her dementia had gone beyond her ability to stay at home. Sylvia’s mom, Melita, a war survivor and immigrant, was able to care for her family because of her instinctive self denial to care for others.
Jesus set the example for self denial. Jesus’ purpose was to do His Father’s will, and because of that He often was in a place of self denial for the benefit of the people He cared for. “Jesus said to him (a scribe), ‘The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head’” (Matthew 8:20). In a greater sense, Jesus willingly gave His life as an atoning sacrifice for humankind. That was the ultimate expression of self denial. Jesus denied Himself in order to complete His Father’s wishes.
In Romans, Paul tells us that the “strong should bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves” (Romans 15:1). He then goes on to say that Jesus did not live to make Himself comfortable or happy. He put the needs of others before Himself.
This is a lesson for me to learn from today. When I’m late to eat, I get grumpy and edgy. I can learn from Jesus and Sylvia’s mom. Sacrificing a good meal or simply my comfort for others is loving others, and that’s what we are called to do. What is it? We are to love God with all our mind, heart and soul, and love our neighbour as ourselves.
Have a great day!
Steve
You can subscribe to this blog and receive an email each day or week. Just visit the following link. https://follow.it/my-faith-view-from-here-daily-readings-and-thoughts?leanpub
Comments
Post a Comment