Who Will You Live For?

Posted on May 01, 2018 Topic : Inspirational/Devotional, Men's Christian Living, Women's Christian Living
Posted by : Stan Toler

My father, William Aaron Toler, was one of the greatest men I’ve ever known. He began his working life as a coal miner in the most productive coal region in West Virginia, but one of the poorest counties in the nation. Dad worked every day in the mines, returning home tired, his face blackened with coal soot. Mining is a perilous occupation, and Dad broke his back three times in the mines while laboring to feed our family. More than once I saw him cough up black coal dust into a snow-white handkerchief, a common occurrence among miners of that day.

Realizing that his family’s welfare depended on his own health, Dad chose to move our family to Ohio, in search of a better life. Eventually Dad found a job with a construction company, and we were all elated. Then one Monday morning Dad went to work and never came home. Having escaped the harrowing dangers of the coal mine, he was electrocuted in a tragic on-the-job accident. I was 11.

The most important lesson I learned from Dad was the power of sacrifice. Dad worked hard at the risk of his own health and life, but he did not do it for himself. His goal was never to enjoy luxuries or to advance his own name. Dad toiled day in and day out to provide for his family and to support our local church. He did it for us. He did it for God. And he never complained. No human being has been a greater influence in my life than my father. Not because he was wealthy or powerful, highly educated or extremely successful. But because of the power of his sacrifice on behalf of his family and his faith.

Generosity is sharing from abundance. Sacrifice is giving at a level that risks loss. Generosity results in gratitude, but sacrifice produces devotion. Sacrifice leads to the most powerful influence because it is a demonstration of love. It’s being willing to put the needs of others ahead of your own.

Surrendering Your Power

The first way we can sacrifice for others is in the area of power, which can be defined in terms of rights, privileges, and control of circumstances. Though you may not feel like a powerful person, each of us has a certain amount of power in all our social contexts. We have rights as citizens. We enjoy privileges based on our family relationships or social status. And we hold some power in our social relationships and employment. Our instinct is to cling to our privileges and power, and to enhance them whenever possible. So when we go against that urge and voluntarily surrender power on behalf of others, it establishes our leadership and influence.

Transferring Your Wealth

A second area in which we may sacrifice ourselves for the benefit of others is in the use of our wealth. Few of us feel as if we are wealthy, but we are. In a world in which an estimated three billion people live in poverty, requiring all their time and energy be devoted to gaining enough food to survive, those two facts indicate you have wealth. One definition of wealth is excess, so if you have more food, money, clothing, and resources than you need to survive, by that definition you are wealthy. Those who are willing to give money away, especially when it changes their own financial status, are rare indeed.

Risking Your Safety

A third area in which we may sacrifice for others is in risking our safety for their care or survival. Though there have been many brave souls who have literally given up their lives to save another person, most of us will never be called upon to knowingly make such a sacrifice. However, there are many occasions on which we may place our wealth, reputation, or health at risk on behalf of others. Our willingness to disregard our own safety is a powerful statement of our concern for others, and that concern brings great respect.

Every day, you have opportunities large and small to sacrifice yourself on behalf of others. There is no question about whether or not your sacrifice will be worthwhile, or whether or not it will be rewarded with increased esteem, respect, and attention. It certainly will be. The only question is this: Will you live your life for Christ and others, or only for yourself? Your answer to that question will, in large measure, determine the level of your influence.