Missionary Ben Anderson, International Director atΒ Things to Come Mission, taught a class and shared at chapel time while I was a student atΒ Berean Bible Institute. At the end of his chapel time, he shared a story from a recent trip to Indonesia. He told of a certain village where there was a church-planting effort under way, in spite of the fact that the village was almost entirely Muslim. One of the Indonesians, a recent convert, spoke with Ben and the president of the Grace Bible Churches in Indonesia.
The man was poor, and without shoes, estranged from family having trusted Christ, and he told Ben, βI want you to have my house for the church.β They at first resisted and said, βBut thatβs your house, where will you live?β The man said βI have a small goat pasture, Iβll sleep by my goats.β They asked him, βBut why would you do this? Why would you give up your home?β The man replied, βBecause Jesus died for me.β
βAnd walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savourβ (Eph. 5:2).
No sacrifice is too great to make for Christ who gave Himself for us. The Church is taught by God to βwalk in love.β God wants us to be devoted to pursue His selfless love in each step we take in life.
Christ gave everything in His love for us. As that love touches our hearts, we too should give ourselves and be willing to give anything and everything for Him. To love as Christ loved us means to be willing to make sacrifices for Him. We should, like this Indonesian brother, be willing to give Him even our house and βsleep by the goatsβ if necessary, because He died for us. source
