Keys to RevivalSample

When Love Costs Everything (Key of Sacrifice)

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."– Jim Elliot

Revival isn’t cheap. It always costs something.

Surrender is saying yes to God. Sacrifice is giving up something precious for the sake of His Kingdom. Jesus compared it to a seed that must fall into the ground and die to produce fruit. Only when something is laid down does it multiply.

In the early 1950s, Jim Elliot and four young missionaries moved to Ecuador to reach the Huaorani, a remote and feared Amazonian tribe. They prayed, prepared, and dropped gifts from the air, learning phrases like “Biti miti punimupa” — “I like you. I want to be your friend.” On January 8, 1956, after brief friendly contact, all five were speared to death by the Huaorani. Jim’s body was found in the river, Bible open, with verses underlined about laying down one’s life.

But the story didn’t end there. Two years later, Jim’s widow, Elisabeth, and Nate Saint’s sister, Rachel, returned to the very tribe that had killed their loved ones. “God seemed to be leading me to the very place where my husband’s killers lived. Could I say no?” Elisabeth wrote. Their forgiveness broke generational cycles of violence, and revival swept through the rainforest as former tribal warriors became evangelists.

Sacrifice always multiplies. It may cost you time, comfort, relationships, or even your life. But as Jesus promised, the seed that dies will produce a harvest.

Take a minute to reflect: What’s keeping you comfortable, or what’s holding your heart more than your love for the Lord? Is more time than necessary being given to a reel or a short, eating into moments of personal Scripture study and prayer? Have you withheld certain talents, fearing people’s ridicule, knowing that the Lord could use those very gifts to bless and revive others? Or are you clinging to worldly wealth and comfort as security for an unknown future? Ask the Lord to help you begin the journey of sacrifice.

Prayer: Lord, help me count the cost and gladly lay down my life for Your Kingdom. Teach me to live sacrificially, trusting You to bring fruit from every seed I sow. Amen.