True love is sacrificial. Love inevitably costs something, usually three commodities most precious to us - your time, your energy, and your money. Most people do not easily part with these resources, because you have them in limited quantities.

Because God was concerned with the well-being of people who were precious to him, he gave - he sacrificed - his only Son; and when you are concerned about the well-being of others, you usually have to sacrifice too. You may have to expend your time, energy or your money for them. You may have to give up your plans, your independence or your privacy. To love as God loves, you may have to part with whatever is most precious to you for the sake of other people.

1. What was the most willing sacrifice you ever made?
   
2. What do you find it hardest to sacrifice?
   • Personal time
   • Ambitions
   • Privacy
   • Image or status
   • Money
     
3. Why is it especially hard for you to make that sacrifice?
   
4. What do you think were the motives of James and John?
   
5. What was the flaw in the way they saw themselves?
   
6. What contrast did Jesus draw between his view of greatness and the surrounding culture’s view of greatness?
   
7. How dies Jesus want his disciples - which includes us - to see ourselves?
   
8. What makes sacrificial love worth doing?
   
9. What new possibilities can you see for your life in serving others by giving your time? Your energy? Your money? Your abilities?
   
10. When have you found that sacrificial love brought you unexpected rewards?

• What do you believe the Lord is calling you to sacrifice in order to serve someone else? (It is important that the sacrifice is led by the Lord, not made impulsively or out of guilt or the desire to win others’ praise.)