| Sacrifice | 
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| Sacrifice |
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To give up or offer something of value At some time or other we all make sacrifices. It may be something quite trivial which we give up for ourselves, such as going out with your friends instead of staying in to watch your favourite TV programme. Or it could be something more important, not for yourself but for others, such as sacrificing your time to go shopping for an elderly neighbour. |
  Giving up time tohelp the elderly can be very rewarding |
| You might like to make a list of the sacrifices you've made for others, alongside a list of the sacrifices which have been made for you.
Which list is longer? |
The greater the value of what is given up and the greater the cost to you personally, then the greater the sacrifice. We often make sacrifices for other people to show how much we love them. It may be a simple 'putting oneself out' to help someone, or the kind of sacrifices people make for their families, such as spending time and money on activities with our children or parents rather than on ourselves. |
| The most valuable thing anyone can give up is their life. History is full of people who have given up their lives in devoted service to others such as Albert Schweitzer in Africa and more recently Mother Teresa in India. There are also people who have literally given up their lives in war to defend their country and way of life.
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 Albert Schweitzer |
 Mother Teresa |
| Christians believe that Jesus' death on the cross was the highest possible sacrifice. They believe that Jesus was the incarnation of God on earth who willingly gave up his life, and that this act of self-sacrifice was made because of his supreme love for humanity.
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At the Last Supper Jesus said to his Disciples: "Love one another, as I have loved you. There is no greater love than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you."
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