What Are Spiritual Sacrifices

A religious rite in which an object is offered to a divinity to establish, preserve, or restore a human being's correct relationship to the divine order.

What are acceptable sacrifices to God?

A shattered spirit is God's acceptable sacrifice; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not scorn. The objective of Hebrew sacrifices and rituals was to mediate forgiveness and repair the people's relationship with God. However, if we do not come to God honestly, he will not be able to reestablish our relationship.

What is sacrifices in the Bible?

In today's world, the word “sacrifice” has many different meanings and connotations. “Sacrifice” is best defined as the ritualized slaughter of animals and the processing of their bodies in relation to supernatural entities in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), early Judaism, and early Christianity, and their wider cultural contexts (especially gods). Humans were the targets of ritualized slaughter and processing in some circumstances. Non-meat goods and beverages, including as grain, olive oil, and wine, were also subjected to ritualized processing. Etymologically, the English word “sacrifice” comes from a Latin concept that means “to make sacred.” This etymological definition is particularly applicable for the rites in the Hebrew Bible that are commonly referred to as “sacrifices,” because they entail the transfer of offerings from humans to God, from the common to the sacred. The primary Hebrew name for this activity in the Hebrew Bible is qorbn (something brought forward, offering), which reveals the ancient Israelite understanding of it. Yahweh, Israel's God, is always the designated or supposed recipient of legal Israelite sacrifices in the Hebrew Bible. The primary focus of this bibliography will be on sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible. However, literature relating to postbiblical ancient Judaism and early Christianity will be given some consideration, as both faiths drew on and interpreted the Hebrew Bible.

What is the power of sacrifice?

“Solomon sacrificed a thousand burnt sacrifices on the bronze altar in front of the Tabernacle in the presence of the LORD. In a dream that night, God appeared to Solomon and asked, ‘What do you want?' I'll give it to you if you ask!” 6-7 in 2 Chronicles

Sacrifice! Without a life of sacrifice, you can't properly serve or relate to God. Sacrifice is described as the giving up of something of significant value to oneself for a special reason or to benefit someone else, as well as personally sacrificing yourself joys, comfort, rights, and advantages in order to attain a purpose or a goal. Starting at the beginning, it is a well-known reality that humans cannot have any kind of relationship with spirits or the spirit realm without making sacrifices. Altars, worship, dedication, devotion, offerings, and so on are examples of these. It makes no difference whether you worship God, the creator of the universe, or Satan and his army of demons. To keep the relationship going, you must be ready and willing to make sacrifices. Sacrifice allows you to enter the realm of the spirits. It allows you to interact with the supernatural. It grants you spiritual benefits. We're afraid we won't be able to talk about this practice in the satanic kingdom here. In my opinion, we've done a good job on it.

God has always had a relationship with man via sacrifices. He went on to caution man not to touch or eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil after allowing him to eat any fruit in the Garden of Eden. “Don't touch it!” God said, despite the fact that the fruit looked excellent and tasty. That was supposed to be a sign of consecration, self-denial, and sacrifice, but man failed miserably. Consider Cain and Abel, whose dilemma was caused by the sacrifices they both made to God. Cain's sacrifice was rejected, but Abel's was accepted. When God decided to create a covenant with Abraham, affirming His promises of protection, generational blessings, and a son, He initiated a highly powerful sacrifice to seal the promises. In Jesus' name, I see your own promises being sealed today! Please pay attention “‘Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a baby pigeon,' the LORD instructed. All of these were taken by Abram and slain. He divided each one in half and placed the halves side by side. However, he did not split the birds in half. Vultures attempted to consume the carcasses, but Abram chased them away. Abram slipped into a deep sleep that evening as the sun began to set. He was confronted with a terrible vision of terror and darkness. The LORD then told Abram…” Genesis15:9-17

Following the sacrifice, the Almighty appeared to Abraham in a dramatic manner and made a generational covenant with him. Between the halves of those mutilated creatures, Abraham saw a curious smoldering fire pot and a fiery torch pass. God was receiving the offering and making powerful promises to Abraham, his descendants, and future generations. In fact, He was also predicting what would happen in the next 400 years! Oh, my God! Sacrifices have tremendous power. What are you giving up to please your God? Today, I believe God is starting something new with you. Next week, we'll pick up where we left off. God's blessings!

What are the blessings of sacrifice?

“Truly, I say unto you, all among them who know that their hearts are honest, and that their spirits are contrite, and that they are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice – indeed, every sacrifice that I, the Lord, shall require – they are acceptable of me.” (See D&C 97:8 for more information.)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognizes sacrifice as a fundamental commandment of God. We also recognize that the way in which sacrifices are made varies depending on the period and region. The Lord gave Adam and Eve the original law of sacrifice soon after they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden. When Abel brought “the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof” to the altar, he was abiding by the law. (Genesis 4:4)

Such sacrifices foreshadowed the coming of the Savior, God's Only Begotten Son – the Sacrificial Lamb who would be offered in order for all to be saved from eternal death.

We mistakenly associate inconveniences with sacrifices nowadays. When we drive – or walk – extra kilometers to meet a Church obligation, we may believe we are making a sacrifice. When we stay at home teaching or visiting teaching instead of going to a play, movie, or baseball game that we really want to see, we may feel like we're making a sacrifice.

We just need to turn to the Latter-day Saint pioneers for instances of sacrifice in this dispensation, those men, women, and children who gave up their homes, businesses, farms, and loved ones in order to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

During a June 3, 1860, talk in the Tabernacle, Brigham Young, who was no stranger to what we now call sacrifice, made the following statements on the subject:

“I can honestly declare that I have never suffered anything for this kingdom — not even a smidgeon.” Except for the wicked proclivities that are sown in our nature, arising from the seed that was sown during Adam's fall, I have never sacrificed anything. Is that what you'd call a sacrifice? I'm not going to call it that…

“We say we've lost an ox or a horse; or, ‘I've left my farm, my home, and made a great deal of sacrifice for this task.' This is a blunder. You didn't have anything to lose. There isn't a single atom in all of God's immense creation that is ours. Everything we have has been given to us for our use, to see what we will do with it – whether we will utilize it for eternal life and exaltation or for eternal death and degradation, until we cease to exist. Let us not talk about sacrificing because we have nothing to sacrifice.” (Journal of Discourses, no. 8, p. 67.)

That last warning, “Then let us not talk about sacrificing,” may hold the answer to what President Young was trying to teach.

It's easier to preach the gospel than it is to live it. It's simpler to talk about what we've given up – our “sacrifices” – than it is to count our “blessings.” We are more likely to count our outgoings than our income in our spiritual ledger.

Are our acts indicative of true sacrifice if we repeatedly tell what we have given up for the Christian cause? Do we make selfless sacrifices or grudging gestures?

Members of the Church in Missouri were forced to sign an agreement to depart Jackson County on July 23, 1833. They had been subjected to a lot of persecution in the previous weeks. Despite their grave circumstances, they were willing to give up everything, including their lives, because they “desired to worship God according to the revelations of heaven, the constitution of their country, and the dictates of their own consciences,” as Joseph Smith put it. (See 1:393 in the Church's History.)

“Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven,” we sing. (No. 27 in the Hymns.) So, what kind of sacrifice do we have to make? The Lord requires that we approach Him with broken hearts and contrite spirits. Everything else will fall into place if we bring such an offering. And, like Abel's, such a gift will be accepted by the Lord.

What three things does the Bible teach us about sacrifices?

What are the three things the Bible teaches us about sacrifices? This set of terms includes (23)

The offering must be a thank-you to God for his protection and blessings.