How Much are You Willing to Sacrifice for God?

How much are you willing to sacrifice for God? Let’s say your employer tells you to do something that you believe is unethical and unlawful. Would you do it? Would you be willing to lose your job over standing up for what is right? If your employer told you that you have two options—do the unethical/unlawful activity or be terminated for cause, would you back down?

Don’t answer too quickly. Think about the degree of the cost you would be willing to pay for doing what is right. What if you were told that your family’s health insurance would be canceled at midnight if you were fired? Think about the long-term ramifications of being fired for cause, which run so much deeper than the immediate loss of income. For the rest of your life, you would have to explain in job interviews why you were no longer employed by that company. All of these challenges could be avoided by simply doing something you know is wrong. Would you do it?

This is no longer a theoretical question for me. My employer of over 8.5 years fired me on Friday for “insubordination” because of my refusal to do something that I believe is unethical and unlawful. I was given the opportunity to back down from my position, but I didn’t – never even considered doing so. I’m not saying it was easy (it wasn’t), but it really was that simple: I refused to be coerced into doing something that I believe is unethical and unlawful, even when threatened with immediate termination. And I was, in fact, terminated for it.

This week, I’ll be blogging about doing what God says to do, even when it comes with a heavy cost. It’s easy to follow God when He is raining blessings down on our lives. It’s a completely different story when obeying Him comes at a heavy price. However, Jesus said that if we love him, we will obey him, and if we don’t, we won’t.

As someone in the trenches, I can tell you that God is faithful. The day after I was fired, I learned that my grandmother’s estate, which had been in probate for over two years, had finally been settled and that I will be receiving my share of the inheritance this week. The amount of the check is exactly one year’s net pay plus 10% to cover the tithe. God is faithful and rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Continued here.

[Graphic: Cartoon of Grace spinning in a vortex: “This is not happening.” Courtesy Bitmoji.]