Parakalein

Interesting question?

While the dictionary difference is easy the way we use these two words can be confusing.

If I surrender everything to Jesus, what do I have left.  If I am willing to sacrifice everything for Jesus what do I have left.  Who am I?

There are some things I have to surrender to as I have no choice but to surrender.  Things like the aging process, like the events that happen to me that I do not and cannot control, reality around me.  I do not have to surrender to abuse, neglect, unkindness, etc.  Surrender is what I do when I have no choice and there are things that I have to surrender to.  Perhaps it is like resignation and acceptance.

Other things I can choose to sacrifice or not.  I have every right to tell someone off but I can ask that part of me to step aside and wait to speak until I can speak with more kindness.  If I cannot speak with kindness then I sacrifice, not the right to speak, but the freedom to speak.  I am reminded of Amy Carmichael who was a missionary having chosen to sacrifice the comforts of home and family for the work of ministry.  SHe said the threefold acid test of speaking your mind is:  "Is it true, is it kind, and is it necessary?'  Only if you can answer yes to all three and are mot lying to yourself can you speak.

Both surrender and sacrifice are part of "spiritual paths" in many religious transitions.  In the Christian tradition which I embrace, Jesus embodies the surrender of his will to the Will of God and Man.  Jesus also sacrifices by choice as he laid down his life as no one could take it form him but he laid down his life for me.  He was modeling a life of surrender and sacrifice.  Surrendering to the things you cannot control and sacrificing the things that you want to control that limit your ability to be free of conditions and agendas in your loving and living.

I remind myself that the sovereign God surrendered and sacrificed as a model of true spirituality.