"He descended below all things, in that He comprehended all things, that He might be in all and through all things, the light of truth". (D&C 88:6)

Water polo season is here...again! Our three oldest children play this intense, fast-paced, and very challenging sport. It requires them to get up early (4:30 for 5:00am practices), practicing after school, and giving up their Saturday mornings to also practice. When games start the schedule gets even crazier and involves weekends. There is a lot of sacrifice on their part to participate in this sport. And I must say, sacrifice for the whole family. We all end up giving up our time, our Saturdays and many other days to drive, watch games, and some of us also give up our sleep. Polo season is a time of sacrifice. Sacrificing sleep and disciplining oneself to go to practice that early in the morning is not an easy thing. The sacrifice of sleep, personal interests, and time for the gain of being in peak physical condition, increased coordination, better communication skills from working with a team, and increased self confidence are some of the blessings that come from all  the sacrifices made to play and commit to being a good player. These sacrifices end up not only blessing their lives in the short term, but also in the long run. The reality is, it takes sacrifice and  willingness to suffer a little for the blessing of a whole lot more.

Sacrifice is to give up something, such as sleep, for the gain of something greater, such as a gain of being on the varsity water polo team. Sometimes the challenge is knowing what to sacrifice so that there is growth and not stumbling. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught how to discern between a good sacrifice and a stumbling one. He said, "Every person and situation is different, and a good sacrifice in one instance might be a foolish sacrifice in another. How can we tell the difference for our own situation? We can ask ourselves, 'Am I committing my time and energies to the things that matter most?' There are so many good things to do, but we can't do all of them. Our Heavenly Father is most pleased when we sacrifice something good for something far greater with an eternal perspective." (Forget Me Not my bold added).

"In ancient days sacrifice meant to make something or someone holy. It has now come to mean to give up or suffer the loss of worldly things for the Lord and His kingdom. Members of the Lord's Church should be willing to sacrifice all things for the Lord. Joseph Smith taught that 'a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.' In the eternal perspective, the blessings obtained by sacrifice are greater than anything that is given up" (The Guide to the Scriptures). We should ask ourselves, "Am I willing to "suffer the loss of worldly things for the Lord and His kingdom"? Today, we are asked to sacrifice a "broken heart and a contrite spirit" (3 Nephi 9:20 (19-22)) rather than sacrificing the "firstlings of our flocks" (see Moses 5:4-8). Are we willing to sacrifice our will, have the "broken heart" so that His will becomes ours? Jesus Christ sacrificed His will, "He descended below all things, in that He comprehended all things, that He might be in all and through all things, the light of truth" (D&C 88:6). Through the Atonement Christ understands our sacrifices and our sufferings. Our small sacrifice to give up sleep sometimes seems difficult to get out of bed to attend church, let alone play water polo. But the "loss of worldly things", to get something better is totally worth the sacrifice of sleep, especially to renew the covenants we made at baptism to "follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of [our] sins, witnessing unto the Father that [we] are willing to take upon [us] the name of Christ" (see 2 Nephi 31:13)

Sacrifice can be small, but make an incredible difference. Think about the sacrifice of money to pay tithing and fast offerings, the sacrifice of our will to conform to the will of God (sometimes this is small and at others we have to make great sacrifices depending on how far we have strayed, but the sacrifice is so worth it!), the sacrifice of our time, our talents, our sleep (think of all the parents in the world who wake to care for a crying child or aid another in need). All these sacrifices are done without the thought of "what's in it for me" making it a true sacrifice. When we make true sacrifices we are following the example of Christ, who "offereth Himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered" (2 Nephi 2:7).

We truly can make a difference in our world by sacrificing our time, our talents, choosing to "sacrifice something good for something far greater with an eternal perspective" (Elder Uchtdorf). Eternal perspective is Christ's perspective and it feels so good when we keep this in our minds view as we learn to live the "law of sacrifice" (see The Law of Sacrifice). We will become more like Christ as we learn the difference between a good sacrifice and a great sacrifice, "willing to suffer the loss of worldly things for the Lord and His kingdom". This I testify will make us stronger and better disciples of Christ as we follow His example of "suffering the will of the Father in all things from the beginning" (3 Nephi 11:11).