And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell (Matthew 5:29-30).
The soul’s integrity is the one and only thing that matters. And so Jesus insists that positively no sacrifice can be too great to insure the integrity of one’s soul. Anything that stands in the way of that, must be given up.
Whatever is standing between us and our true contact with God—a sin, an old grudge left unforgiven, stark greed for the things of this world—must go. Such things, however, are so obvious that at least the transgressor is aware of them; it is the subtle things like self-love, self-righteousness, and spiritual pride that are most difficult for the self to exercise.
As humans, we naturally want to think that we can make ourselves do the right thing. Surely we don’t have to cut off our hand to keep it from stealing! The unfortunate truth is that without God’s spirit in us, humans are incapable of doing the right thing. Even when we overcome obvious weaknesses, we then face the more complex types of wrong behavior that comes from a false spiritual superiority.
The problem comes when we trust on our judgement regarding that which will cost us our soul. Satan lied to Eve and that demon lies to us each day. Satan knows most of us would not knowingly give up our soul. So he convinces us that we need not worry about sacrifice, self-denial and submission in all things
Whichever phase or spiritual development we are in, we must yield to God’s will in every way. So that even if we had to sacrifice life and limb to follow God, we must do so to ensure the welfare of our soul. Most times the sacrifices are much smaller. Simple acts of kindness when we are tired, turning away from criticizing others or giving up an object or a habit that is bad for us are the typical things we must do. But have no doubt, if we succeed in the small sacrifices, we will be able to make the big ones as well. There is nothing we have so valuable that we should trade our soul for it.
Seeking sacrifice,
Z gardener
Good Morning Garden 
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