Sacrifice

Join Cydni and Sher in this week's episode where they unravel the essence of sacrifice. From the biblical tales of Cain and Abel to the heartwarming story of Corrie ten Boom, they explore how true sacrifice draws us nearer to the Lord. This episode is "Sacrifice" and we are so glad you're here!

This Week's Challenge
We challenge you this week to take time to read the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis. Additionally, you could read the Bible Dictionary definition of sacrifice.

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Show Notes

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Transcript

Episode 98 - Sacrifice

Cydni: [00:00:00] this is Cydni 

Sher: and I'm Sher. And each week we get together to share with you a message of hope.

Cydni: It is through our own study and our personal experiences that we offer the reminder to not only seek the light, 

Sher: but be the light. You can find peace and there is hope

Cydni: and as long as one of us is slightly caffeinated, there will be laughter. 

Sher: Today's episode is the importance of sacrifice.

Cydni: And we're so glad you are here 

Sher: All right, Cydni, today we're gonna talk about sacrifice.

Cydni: Meaning, like, how to get into the Illuminati. 

Sher: That is exactly what I wasn't thinking. 

Cydni: But I've always said that back when they had to sacrifice animals that I don't really feel like I'd have that hard of a time to do that. I know that Some people might be sad about it.

Sher: I would I would not do well with it. Cydni hates animals She would just be out there with a big [00:01:00] huge butcher knife 

Cydni: in the name of the Lord, though. I Wouldn't have a hard time sacrificing animals and other people's animals I think that'd be easier than what we have to do today like sacrificing our sins And let alone our favorite sins.

I'd rather just be like, sorry, lamb, it's over for you. Cold hearted. Maybe that's why I was born in this time. it's frowned upon in our neighborhood to sacrifice lambs. 

Sher: Maybe it's because you grew up on a farm. Is that why you're so cold? 

Cydni: That I'm fine with sacrificing animals because we did that on the farm. Did you? Like for sport? No. I was a little worried. But I had kind of a change of heart about this. Because I was reading in the Bible dictionary about About sacrifice and I learned a few things that made me feel like I don't know if I'd really want to sacrifice an animal because let me just tell you one of the things that stuck out the most is that the [00:02:00] sacrifice they really did have to do by themselves. I know that change in the beginning though, they were required, whoever's sacrifice it was, was the one to do the sacrifice by their own hand. And I have a hard time squishing spiders. Sometimes I've I talk a lot, but there's a lot of times that if we're close enough to the front door, I feel like that spider should just go outside. So I feel like I'm all talk. Because can you imagine actually having to carry it out? 

Sher: No, I, shot a rabbit once and I cried my eyes out. 

Cydni: Why did you shoot a rabbit? 

Sher: Because my dad took me rabbit hunting. Oh my gosh. That's why. And then I cried. And that was the end of my hunting career. 

Cydni: Well, I have mentioned that I ran over a bunny before. That was just 16 year old driving skills. I told that to my daughter. She brings it up weekly. She's like, my mom ran over a bunny. That was like 20 years ago. Thank you very much. But she's never going to forgive me for that. So I'm glad my dad didn't take me bunny hunting. 

Sher: It was [00:03:00] traumatic. That was the last time. Well, he actually tried to take me hunting one more time, deer hunting, and I yelled the whole time that there was a deer murderer in the forest. So then that was the last time I went hunting. 

Cydni: Yeah, I'm all talk. I don't want to sacrifice anything at all. But I did find it to be significant that it was worded that whoever's sacrifice it was had to do it by their own hands. That makes a lot of sense for what we're going to talk about today, how our heart is required.

And we're going to do that through different stories like Cain and Abel and different examples. But in the Bible dictionary, I'm going to read a few things that it says that I just really liked when referring to sacrifice. It says The sacrifices were to be made of the sacrifice that would be made of the only begotten Son of God, sacrifices were thus Instructive as well as worshipful. they were accompanied by prayer, devotion, and dedication, and represented an acknowledgement on the part of the [00:04:00] individual of his duty toward God, and also a thankfulness to the Lord for His life and blessings upon earth, and then just something else I learned was ultra sacrifices were of three kinds, sin offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings.

 So there's just some information for you. So Sher, what I love about this in my head of always being like, I'd rather just sacrifice an animal than anything else because I could just grab the neighbor's cat and it's over, but it wasn't that way. It was done by the person's own hands and it was done with prayer and devotion and a sense of worship and Thanksgiving 

Sher: and I'm going to add to your definition after the animal sacrifice time period was over in third Nephi chapter nine, verse 20, it explains what. We are required to sacrifice now, it says, and you shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. So, What does that mean? I found a talk by Elder Bruce D. Porter who said, Those who have a broken [00:05:00] heart and a contrite spirit are willing to do anything and everything that God asks of them. I was just pondering this, and the thought that came to me is, I try to take Rudy for a walk every single day when I get the leash out, Rudy goes crazy and he jumps all over the place and I put the leash on and he doesn't pull me, he just walks and he follows where I go. If I turn right, he wants to go right. If I go left, he goes left. he follows me and he willingly lets me lead him so this is what we should be doing with our Heavenly Father to sacrifice a broken heart and a contrite spirit is we should be willingly following our Heavenly Father.

In the scriptures though, it doesn't use a leash to explain what's going on. It uses the word yoke. Our Savior is , not only going to lead us, but he's also going to help us carry our load. . We're going to be yoked together further in the talk.

Elder Porter said God's intent [00:06:00] is not to break us, but to redeem us. I thought that was so beautiful because he's not yoking us to hurt us and to make our life difficult. What he's doing is He's teaching us, He's guiding us. He's helping us carry the load. So that He can redeem us, and so we should be learning here on this earth to trust Him, that He is leading us in the right direction. 

Cydni: I love this because it gives me a visual of one time Iyana took a dog on a walk. She was just little. And we were at a playground. So it was a soccer game type situation. So someone had a dog and Iyana wanted to take the dog on a walk. So she took the dog over to a playground and tried to take it up the stairs and then tried to take it up the slide, but like starting from the bottom, going to the top. 

Sher: And we look over and 

Cydni: there, sadly, the dog was hanging off the slide. And Yanda was like, oh my gosh, and she went down the slide and it was fine. But when you're talking about this, and I picture Rudy [00:07:00] so obediently enjoying life, just right by your side, going the way you want and enjoying his walk, I see myself more as the dog that was dangling from the slide. God's like, just come up this way and it will be fine. And I'm like, no, that's what I pictured. 

Sher: I like that example. I think I am more like the dog that you just explained also, like, no, I'm sure it's this direction. I'm sure I know better, God. And then I end up dangling off the side. I think that's summed up both of us really well. Yeah. Excellent work. 

Cydni: This is good because it's just like God has you on a leash, guys. Are you going to strangle yourself or are you going to stay by his side? I'm choosing to strangle myself, apparently. It's all about choices. He's like, the slide is fun. Just come down the slide with me. And we're like, I'm dropping off and I'm going to dangle. That's what happened. 

Speaking of strangling or death, we did say we were going to talk about Cain and Abel. So, this has been interesting because I've never had so many questions about it.

I have now studying it for the last few days [00:08:00] because, it opened a can of worms. It opened a can of worms is a great way to say it. Yes, it did because I know the surface level story and most people do that. Kane is the first born to Adam and Eve. I do think it's important to note that Adam and Eve have recently, freshly been introduced to the law of sacrifice, and then they have Cain, and then they have Abel, and there's a bit of a sibling rivalry going on, which really does just ruin the firstborn stereotype and the second born stereotype. It just ruins it because the firstborn is usually like the obedient, dutiful one, and the second one's the more mischievous, but not in the Bible, not with Cain and Abel. Got it backwards. I know. 

Sher: There we are again, telling God the order of things. Here we are strangling off the side of the slide. 

Cydni: Keep up with the memes already, my gosh. And I also love the story of Side Note because I always feel like, you know what, I don't know if I'm the best parent or even mid of a parent, but so far my children have not killed each other. So, Good job. That's good.

She just patted [00:09:00] herself on the back. Good job. I also added so far, just in case, so that cannot be used against me, so a surface level, we know the story that Cain is jealous and Abel is so good. He authentically loves God and he wants to please his parents and he does what is right and he works hard and things just go so nicely for him all of the time.

And Cain is just, he's a little bit more rebellious and he's a little less giving and he's a little bit more, I'm going to fight against this. He's dangling on the leash with Sher and I and Abel is just happily walking on the leash as he should and he's blessed for it. And then Cain. And Abel are both meant to sacrifice something and Cain's sacrifice is not accepted by God and Abel's is. And that just is further frustration for Cain and he ultimately kills his brother. I have so many questions about this in the beginning I just talked about there's different kinds of sacrifices and Cain's sacrifice is not a blood sacrifice. But Abel's is, and so you start to [00:10:00] wonder because I read it and there's not an exact what went wrong here.

There's not a clear, this is why Cain's sacrifice is not accepted, but Abel's for sure is sacrificed. And then God does say, if you follow my ways. I'm going to accept your work, but if you sin, I won't, which indicates that there somewhere was a sin in the sacrifice and at surface level, Cain's sacrifice was not pure. He could have given more, but he didn't want to. And he thought he could get away with giving what he gave. He thought I can do the actions.

I could do what I'm supposed to do. I could do the outward appearance of all of this and check it off the list. But God sees through that and that offends Cain so much. And I've heard people talk about, well, Cain tried and then imagine your sacrifice being denied. That's hurtful. And of course he's going to be upset, but God sees our hearts he knows if we really are sacrificing or if we're just doing the [00:11:00] checklist. And he was just doing the checklist. 

Sher: I love what you just said. And just to point out something that you said earlier, that Cain had a choice. In Moses, chapter five, verse 23, it explains that choice. This is God talking to Cain. It says, if thou doest well, thou shalt be accepted. And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door and Satan desireth to have thee. So there's God warning Cain like choose well, and it's all going to be good. And your sacrifice will be accepted, but. If you make the wrong choice, Satan wants thee, now listen to this part, and except thou shalt hearken unto my commandments, I will deliver thee up, and it shall be unto thee according to his desire. So he's saying, Satan wants to have you. I'm trying to protect you from Satan. Please listen to me or else it's going to be, And to Satan's desire, he's going to get his wish and I'm not going to get mine. That's heartbreaking to me here he has this choice between a loving, kind, Heavenly Father and evil Satan. [00:12:00] and he chose Satan and not his Father in Heaven.

Cydni: And some people say that Cain already made the choice before the sacrifice was offered. well in advance, that he was a murderer from the beginning and that he knew what he was doing and the sacrifice was really to mock God and God knew it. 

Sher: it was fake and insincere and he chose not to listen. 

Cydni: And I think we could relate to both sides at different times in our lives. Not that we're going to fully mock God, but I think sometimes our sacrifices are done. Without our heart in it, that we're just doing the routine and we're just getting by and wanting to make sure we look like we're doing what we're supposed to do. And this is where this plays into our personal life it's not just what we're doing, it's how we're doing it. It's not just do you go to church and talk about God, but do you have an actual relationship with God? This is where the story applies to us personally. 

Sher: Yeah, like you said earlier, are we just checking the boxes? Or are we actually applying it to our lives? another [00:13:00] perspective I found about this was from Rabbi Daniel Lappin. . He said, Cain upon hearing God's admonition, which was basically the scripture I just read, assumed it was meant for Abel. After all, it couldn't have applied to him. God couldn't possibly be displeased with him. Right? Thus, the Torah has no need to tell us what Cain said to Abel, it's obvious.

He repeated God's message about improvement, which he assumed had been meant for Abel. Abel rejected Cain's suggestion, insisting that the message of moral repair was meant for Cain. Hearing criticism is so painful to all human beings, that in a form of totally self defense, Cain lashed out at Abel. and killed him. Now, I can honestly say that I have never been that mad that I've wanted to kill anybody. Okay, that's a brag. But how many times do I ignore God when He's correcting me? When the prophet [00:14:00] gets up and says, Hey, this is what we should be working on. I say to myself, Well, that correction wasn't for me, right? That was for Cydni. Definitely not for me. 

Cydni: That's actually happened in real time where there was a conference talk that we were listening to as a family. And I did think to myself, I hope Ben is listening. And the next talk. called out people who think that and I felt so guilty.

Sher: We've all been there, Cydni. I'd never thought of it in that way. Like how many times has the Lord corrected me? And I just am like, well, that wasn't for me. Oh, it's for someone else, right?

Cydni: I think I'm a professional at that. Like, I hope that person got that message. Glad I didn't have to say it again. 

Sher: Well, when I was reading about this, I thought about when I first started teaching I kind of had the attitude more of, I wasn't just teaching the children, I was saving. The children, you know, I, I truly believed it was my calling and what I was supposed to be doing, which I still agree with, but I had kind of had that mentality of I'm here to save the children. I also helped coach girls basketball at the [00:15:00] time. and I especially. told them what was up and what they needed to do and how they should be living their life and I was telling my mentor teacher he's awesome if he's listening, Gourley, I love you, you're the best, and he was the head coach, because he does listen, isn't that cute?

Cydni: Yes, thank you, coach. 

Sher: Anyway, I was telling the head coach what I had done I thought he was going to be so proud of me my accomplishments. And when I finished, he said, is that your job? And I was like, what do you mean? Is that my job? And he said, is that your job to get the kids to live up to your morals? I suddenly realized, oh wait, not proud of me. He said, you can be an example, but your job is to teach the kids. And it was stinging. I realized what I was doing was being preachy. Not a teacher. There's a big difference between the two. And that moment changed my entire teaching career and the way that I looked at it, I was there to be an example and to teach as hard as I possibly could [00:16:00] and as best as I possibly could for my students. That's what I was there for. Because they already have Savior, they don't need me to do it for them. And that's the great lesson that he taught me. Now the point is that it's not fun to be corrected. What are you going to do with that correction? Are you going to take the correction from God and learn? Or are you going to get angry? Cain, in this instance, did not take the correction. He chose to get angry.

Cydni: that makes me think back to the leash that you have so much more freedom when you're walking close to your guide, to God, then you do dangling from the slide.

Sher: definitely, 

Cydni: you think that if you go whichever way you want to go, like that dog was like, I'm going to jump off here cause I want to, that's not freedom. Dangling from the top of the playground about to die is not freedom. 

Sher: No, it's not. And it is amazing that when we. Willingly follow and obey the Lord. We definitely do have more freedom. And more choices. this brings us to the next question that Cydni and I were thinking [00:17:00] about is then why do we sacrifice? 

Cydni: And I do feel like I got a little ahead, I was so excited about the Bible dictionary that we never actually defined sacrifice which is to give up something of value now for a greater and better future. And something I thought about when it comes to why do we sacrifice is the idea that nobody doesn't sacrifice. You are going to sacrifice something. You don't get to choose, do you sacrifice? You choose what you sacrifice. And that's like the quotes that say either you sacrifice for the life you want or the life you want becomes the sacrifice. So we will sacrifice, but you get to pick what do you sacrifice.

Sher: I really like that definition a lot. Another definition I found of sacrifice is the Jewish definition literally means drawing near. So when we choose to sacrifice, we're sacrificing our broken hearts and our contrite spirits, we are choosing to be closer to the Lord. That's what we're doing. So the reason that we sacrifice, the [00:18:00] why in it all is we're choosing to give up something now for something better in the future. And we're also choosing to be closer to the Lord. 

This reminded me of, . was reading about Corrie ten Boom. Remember, she was the one, the story of the hiding place. She and her family hid the Jews during World War II. Her family, literally sacrificed everything they had to save Jews from the concentration camps.

her neighbor found out what they were doing and turned them in. While they were in the concentration camp, she and her sister still found a way to teach the gospel. In the evenings they had smuggled in a Bible. Corrie Ten Boom's father and her sister are going to die in the concentration camps.

So these are things, you know, I kind of already had a surface knowledge of. But there's a few things in the article that I want to point out that I learned. First of all, she forgave everyone. She forgave the Nazis. She forgave the guards that were so cruel and mean to her in the concentration camp.

She forgave the man who betrayed their family. And [00:19:00] was the little snitch that told on them and it said in the article , that is a lesson for everyone, young and old, forgiveness. and I love that point of the article, but there are two other things that just really touched my heart.

The first one is that Corrie Ten Boom, Ended up proselyting at San Quentin Prison in California. And she formed a friendship with the prisoners there. And so she decided to move to California. And while she was there serving amongst these prisoners. They got together and they gave her a wooden plaque that they had made. And on the plaque, it says from the men of the garden chapel at San Quentin.

And then on the front in big letters, it says her name, Corrie Ten Boom. And then in quotes underneath her name, it says prisoner of the Lord Jesus. And they gave this to her as a gift because they just loved her so much. And Corrie Ten Boom said that this was her greatest treasure. And she received this, not. Too many years before she passed away. And this was her greatest treasure. That's the first thing I want to [00:20:00] point out is what her treasure was. And the second one is They had pictures of her all over in this article.

And Cydni, may I just tell you, what a happy person. She's just smiling and you can just see the joy just coming out of her whole heart and soul it's so beautiful. she gave all she had to follow the Lord. She was in a concentration camp. She lost her family. She had literally nothing. She was building a life from the beginning. She was serving as a missionary in San Quentin prison. And she was happy. Now, to me, the three lessons from this story, , is forgiveness and where your treasure is and her treasure was knowing that those prisoners knew that she was tethered, yoked to the Lord. And the third one is how happy she was. I love that. when I think of why we sacrifice, I think that's a really good reason is to be near the Lord, to have the Spirit with us, and just to be happy, 

And along the same lines, when I think of sacrifice, I [00:21:00] think of my own ancestors who gave all they had for me. uh, Great grandmother who was kicked out of Nauvoo in the middle of the night, leaving everything she had behind. Just her and her kids. Her husband was out of town at the time.

And she's the one who packed up the kids and in a wagon headed out of Nauvoo with the mobs surrounding her. Another grandmother who Came across the plains and ended up getting frozen feet and for the rest of her life had to deal with the consequences of that. But why did they do this? Why did they make that sacrifice?

It was to help me have an easier life and easier access to the gospel. Everything they did was to help me to be happy. Wow. That's a butt kicker, right? When I think of the sacrifice that they made, really, truly, that is a butt kicker. I am so grateful for the sacrifice that they made for me so I have the opportunities that I do.

Cydni: I love the definition to draw near because if you think back to Cain and Abel, Abel's sacrifice, it did bring him closer to [00:22:00] God and then Cain's though, it's pushed him away. And it's just a great example that if you sacrifice truly that you do stand closer to God and President Nelson Talks about the reward of keeping our covenants with God and why do it. And he says that we do it because you gain access to heavenly power. Power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations and heartaches better. This power eases our way. Those who live the higher laws of Jesus Christ have access to his higher power. Thus covenant keepers are entitled to a special kind of rest that comes to them through their covenant relationship with God.

So when we think about what sacrifices we're willing to make if our sacrifices brings forth the reward to be closer to God, then that is how people like Kori can still have that joy. Even when they've seen horrific things, because she has made choices that draw her closer to God that allow [00:23:00] her to have a greater perspective.

And recently I was thinking that how often people were taken up to the mountain to talk to God. I thought when you're Up at the top of the mountain, your perspective of everything is so much more grand. So when we are closer to God, our perspective is so much more grand, allowing us to have joy when it doesn't make any sense.

Sher: I love that. That's a good reason to, again, give your heart and soul to God, to sacrifice because it does give you that better and bigger perspective where we can find happiness in the worst of circumstance, just like Corrie showed us that is possible.

All right. I have one more example for us to think about here not only is the Lord going to lead us and help us carry our load, but when we physically can't give anymore. We've done everything we can. We cannot go one more step. He's going to fill in the gap for us. So if we're climbing up that mountain and we're like, I cannot physically, mentally, spiritually go one more step. I've given everything I have. [00:24:00] He's going to throw us a rope, and He's going to help us the rest of the way.

An example I have of this is in Hawaii on Maui. There is a beautiful church that's on the road to Hana. It's absolutely gorgeous. And the priest of this church wrote in his journal. We continue our endeavors to harvest coral from the reefs, but on account of the difficulty and expense of the labor, our work goes slowly. Today we had to give up the attempt altogether, for the seas ran very high and great clouds rolled over the island. This priest and his little congregation were trying so hard to build a beautiful Church out of the lava rocks and from the coral and it was just so difficult that they really weren't Getting anywhere because it was so hard to get that coral out of the reefs And then as he wrote this a horrible storm came in it was so bad. He thought that what little work they had done so far on the church, that it was all just going to get blown away or washed into the ocean because the storm was so bad. So he [00:25:00] closed his journal and he went for safety.

But then the next morning, this is what he wrote. On the beach, close to the site of the new church, was a massive pile of coral rocks torn from the reef and cast upon the land by the storm. Congregation and priests fell upon their knees in thanksgiving, and then they set to work. building their lovely St. Gabriel Church. They gave everything they had, and they couldn't give any more. And then a horrible storm rolled in, and they thought it was over. But it wasn't over. The Lord was ready to throw that rope to this wonderful little congregation, and He washed that coral on the shore for them right next to the church.

That I think is a beautiful story of what the Lord will do for us over and over again if we choose to follow him and yoke ourselves to him and allow him to guide us and lead us. 

Cydni: Takeaway from that story is just how often God lets us get to the place where we have nothing left to give because then we know It was him that provided the [00:26:00] way and to have a testimony of that is just another reward for choosing God. 

Sher: This brings us to our final thoughts. Sacrifice is not about loss. It's about trust. Trust in God's plan. Trust that giving up something now brings greater blessings later. Whether through enduring hardships and offering a broken heart and a contrite spirit, true sacrifice draws us nearer to the Lord and fills our lives with his presence. When we can't go any further, God will fill in the gaps and help us. Those who give all they have for him. Like the pioneers or Corrie ten Boom do not live in sorrow, but in joy for they have discovered the ultimate truth sacrifice will bring us closer to the Lord and ultimately to eternal joy with Him 

Cydni: we challenge you this week to take time to read the story in Genesis of Cain and Abel. , an additionally you could read the Bible dictionary definition of sacrifice. 

Sher: This is our prayer 

Cydni: from Cydni and [00:27:00] Cher.

I struggle today. It's because I'm like bobbing all over the place. Like I cannot hold still. I'm over here. I'm over here. I was like, call me, call me now because I am going to go podcast. And he said, no, now he's calling now. wait, should I do a jumping jack? No, I did a running man. It's because I went to the dentist and my teeth hurt. Okay. It's touching my heart. your cold cold hard heart. I'm ready to go. But my mouth feels numb. 

Sher: Today's episode is sacrifice. That sounded evil today. 

Cydni: Have a great week.