Given

Before you read the following, please consider:
It has been said it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
More potent is the point that it is better to offer obedience than sacrifice - it is, to my way of thinking, the essence of why the sacrifice of Christ Jesus is so potent - he was obedient unto death; however, I would speak to the distinction here (though only lightly) and address the fact that obedience is a kind of sacrifice. In fact, one might point out that the act of giving is one of those rare opportunities in which obedience and sacrifice overlap.

Thank You

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Giving is one of those actions which cannot be performed alone; you need a giver and a givee. Much like the fact that you cannot give a hug without receiving one (arguable but I believe is still valid), you cannot give (or be given) a gift without there being an exchange of something else in return. Sometimes it is simply time, sometimes it is appreciation, sometimes it is another gift, and sometimes it is expectation.

And I believe sacrifices are a kind of gift - a very particular kind of gift. This kind of gift is something we are expected to expect something in return; something that falls into all four of the realms above - time, appreciation, a return gift, and an expectation.

We give a sacrifices because we expect time to offer that sacrifice in; sometimes we even have a word of knowledge that the sacrifice will result in more time with someone or to accomplish some task ... but I believe God has graced us with a large amount of personal time, a great deal of which is to be used as a resource for sacrificing. To put this another way, one cannot offer a sacrifice without the time in which to offer the sacrifice. God provides this time. It is an implicit gift, often taken for granted, but without which, we cannot hope to provide any sacrifices.

We give a sacrifice because we expect an increase in the capacity to appreciate God. Indeed, we are called to pay tithes (certainly a kind of sacrifice) with a joyful air, and I believe, when giving said tithe, one's capacity for appreciation of God can truly gain. Often, the very act of sacrificing can result in an increased one-ness with Christ Jesus, the result being that appreciation is immediate and enduring!

We give a sacrifice because we expect an increase in resources - I believe one of the reasons God provides time to sacrifice and increased appreciation after sacrificing is that we will value the act of obedience to God and provide a not only sacrificial praise but a praise of humility (which is a kind of sacrifice of ego) - and I have seen myself (and others) be given an increase in resources as a result. I believe there is a cycle here - the more we willingly give to God, the more resources we commit to Christ Jesus, the more resources God will give us to sacrifice! Much like the parable of the talents, when the faithful servant invested all ten of his talents, he was given more than all the rest of his brethren (and remember too, only three of those servants were listed as having been faithful at all - consider well the import of sacrifice!)

We also give sacrifice because we expect expectation. Another word one might use is vision. God has said that in the last days, that there will be visions and dreams - and we are also reminded that without vision, the people perish. We know the thought God thinks toward us, that they are for good and not for evil, and this we can expect visions, Godly and holy visions, that will draw us closer to Him and help us recognize what new task, goal, or direction we are to fulfill - and we can expect this readily through sacrifice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~