For God so loved the world, He GAVE.
God is generous. God the Father gave His Son for our benefit, our joy, our eternal life. We are Jesus’s passion, the joy for which He suffered the cross.
What a gift—a humbling, overwhelming gift! Jesus laid down everything He had and sacrificed it to gain me. To save me! By knowing Him and knowing what He’s given for me, everything changes. Because of His sacrifice, I get to give. I get to release the resources I’ve been given to bless others.
I can give sacrificially.
Sacrificial giving is an all-in, no-holding-back kind-of thing. It’s beautiful, and it almost always comes with struggle. Because this type of giving requires you to give up something you hold dear. It may force you to let go of false security, release something you worked hard to gain, or reorganize how you use your time. Or sacrificial giving may mean discomfort for a season.
Whatever it looks like, it’s always worth it. Because Jesus doesn’t call us to a life of idle gain. He calls us to walk with Him, to experience and know His love, His joy.
Modern-Day Sacrificial Giving
I recently met Naomi Haile, a woman who achieved the great American dream. She and her husband, Dr. Zelalem “Z” Ashiny, immigrated from Ethiopia. They lived with their two daughters in a perfect home in a beautiful suburb of Washington, DC. They worked hard and enjoyed the abundant fruits of their labor. They traveled often, enjoyed the good life, and were content with their family of four.
Until God radically changed their lives.
After waking up one morning, Naomi was confident God was calling her back to Ethiopia. So she and the family went. At the end of their vacation in Ethiopia, one of Naomi’s relatives asked her to do something. The head of an orphanage there, the relative wanted Naomi to visit her workplace.
Naomi refused. That wasn’t how she wanted to end a carefree vacation. But her relative persisted. Eventually, Naomi caved.
At the orphanage, a little boy ran to Naomi and asked her to pick him up. She did. Their eyes met, and the little boy called her Mommy. Soon after, Naomi set the boy back down and made her way back to America. But she couldn’t get the boy out of her mind.
Back home, many of the activities and possessions she once cherished had lost their luster. She felt something was missing. Every time she told the story of the orphanage, she would cry.
It didn’t take long for Naomi to realize God was calling her to adopt. Her husband was immediately on board. He even agreed that adopting twin boys would be nice. And when they got a call from Ethiopia a couple months later, they knew God was at work.
Twin boys had just been born. Their mother abandoned them. Would Naomi and Z like to adopt them?
The adoption process was supposed to take six months. It took three times as long, but Naomi and Z finally welcomed their sons home.
For most, the story would end here. Not this time. God was calling Naomi deeper into the world of adoption. This caused her to quit her high-level corporate job to create Orphan Care Ethiopia.
A nonprofit organization, Orphan Care Ethiopia works to improve the lives of orphans in Ethiopia through advocacy, education, and financial support. Founding the organization meant leaving her corporate job and her powerful position. But for Naomi, it wasn’t a setback or a second-best option. It was the best thing that ever happened to her. Her sacrificial generosity gave her a better life and greater joy.
When I asked Naomi if she misses the life she had before journeying back to Ethiopia, she didn’t hesitate.
“Not for one minute,” she said. “God has drawn me close to Him, and I have more joy with Him than I ever knew before.”
Watch The Well Broadcast to hear Naomi in her own words.
