Quotes about Sacrifice

Long-term marital intimacy requires accepting this truth: to stop giving yourself to your spouse is to spiritually divorce them.

How much would every marriage change if we pursued absolute benevolence over our own comfort, happiness, and self-interest?

Sometimes to follow in the footsteps of Jesus is to walk away from others or to let them walk away from us.

We realize it's not about what we get out of our marriage but about what we become in our marriage.

You are imitating Jesus Christ and taking on the nature of a servant, which is your calling as a Christian.

If we think that serving God always leads to greater prosperity, we're selectively reading our Bibles.

The best way for me to live this out is to keep asking myself, 'What is my love for my wife costing me?' If the answer is 'nothing,' then I'm not loving my wife as Christ loved the church.

Infatuation fills your eyes with what you're getting, but let the Bible fill your mind with what you're committing to give.

the picture of marriage as God intended it to be — two equals, albeit different, completely and wholly serving the other person as though they are greater than themselves, thus creating not a male-female power struggle over who is more worthy, but a harmony that reflects the character of God in the Trinity and the ministry of reconciliation in the world.

Marriage creates a situation in which our desire to be served and coddled can be replaced with a nobler desire to serve others — even to sacrifice for others.

I believe God designed marriage, in part, to "pinch our feet." Both men and women need to have their pride assaulted. All of us, men and women alike, if we are to become like Christ, must, by definition, learn to become servants. And marriage gives us the opportunity to do just that.

Occasional acts of dramatic service like this can go such a long way — not only in cementing intimacy as a couple, but in reminding the spouse who does the giving that to know Christ is to know service; to become like Christ is to become like a servant; to follow Christ is to follow the way of service.