{"id":196,"date":"2017-09-13T02:35:50","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T02:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/normasueoneil.com\/?p=196"},"modified":"2026-01-01T19:43:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T02:43:22","slug":"what-ive-learned-about-motherhood-from-my-dog-the-relationship-between-love-and-sacrifice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/normasueoneil.com\/?p=196","title":{"rendered":"Love and Sacrifice: What We Grow Attached To"},"content":{"rendered":"

September 13, 2017<\/em><\/p>\n


One of the clearest lessons I\u2019ve learned is that love grows where sacrifice is chosen.<\/p>\n

This relationship between love and sacrifice became especially apparent to me during the time I was housebreaking my puppy. The process required vigilance and discipline. Every couple of hours, at a minimum, I had to take him outside\u2014or else I was cleaning a mess off the tile floor. I adjusted my daily schedule to accommodate the training routine and gave up activities if I knew I would be gone too long for him to succeed.<\/p>\n

Housebreaking was inconvenient, but so was neglect. He could learn, but only if I was present and consistent.<\/p>\n

Nighttime made the process more demanding. It was winter in Rexburg, Idaho, with temperatures well below freezing, so I kept the dogs inside, corralled in the mud room. Sleep was interrupted frequently\u2014sometimes by whining, sometimes by silence that startled me awake with worry. Exhaustion and frustration were constant companions.<\/p>\n

Yet through this process, I became acutely aware of something unexpected: I loved my puppy more because<\/em> of what I had sacrificed for him. My time, my comfort, my sleep\u2014these investments bound my heart to him. In caring for him, he also filled a quiet space in my life that longed to nurture and protect.<\/p>\n

As I reflected on this relationship between love and sacrifice, I began to recognize its broader significance\u2014not only in the love of a parent for a child, but also in the spiritual pattern of Christ\u2019s love for us.<\/p>\n

The Savior\u2019s sacrifice is often referenced as the ultimate act of love, and rightly so. But one detail of that sacrifice stood out to me in a new way. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, \u201cNot my will, but thine, be done.\u201d<\/em> His suffering was not only physical; it was a complete yielding of His will in obedience to the Father. Love, in its highest form, required submission and sacrifice.<\/p>\n

Christ taught this principle repeatedly. \u201cA man cannot serve two masters.\u201d<\/em> \u201cIf ye love me, keep my commandments.\u201d<\/em> Love is revealed through allegiance, through what we are willing to give up in favor of something higher.<\/p>\n

This principle helps explain why sacrifice has always been central to spiritual practice. Anciently, God\u2019s people offered physical sacrifices. Today, Christ asks for \u201ca broken heart and a contrite spirit.\u201d<\/em> We offer this sacrifice through humility, obedience, and the surrender of pride and self-will. The same principle applies in our service to others. We cannot truly serve without sacrifice, and we rarely love deeply without it.<\/p>\n

This truth also carries a caution.<\/p>\n

We grow attached not only to what we sacrifice for intentionally, but also to what we sacrifice for subconsciously. If we do not choose our priorities deliberately, our time, energy, and devotion will still be spent\u2014and our hearts will follow.<\/p>\n

When we sacrifice long-term joy for short-term gratification, or integrity for approval, or spiritual health for convenience, those choices shape what we come to value most.<\/p>\n

A familiar maxim captures this well: \u201cNever give up what you want most for what you want at the moment.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This understanding has become a personal framework for evaluating my choices. It acts as a quiet system of checks and balances\u2014helping me weigh priorities, realign my actions with my values, and live with greater intention.<\/p>\n

What are you sacrificing?
And is it what you want most?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A reflective essay on the relationship between love and sacrifice, exploring how devotion is shaped by what we choose to give up\u2014and how intentional sacrifice reveals our deepest values.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[101,100,6],"tags":[98,97,87,90],"class_list":["post-196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-infertility","category-motherhood","category-personal-muse-ings","tag-christianity","tag-consequences","tag-infertility","tag-motherhood","without-featured-image"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6v7yg-3a","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":636,"url":"https:\/\/normasueoneil.com\/?p=636","url_meta":{"origin":196,"position":0},"title":"Creativity: Motherhood vs. Art","author":"normasue","date":"July 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A reflection on creativity, art, and motherhood\u2014and why two of the most powerful creative callings are too often undervalued.","rel":"","context":"In "Creativity"","block_context":{"text":"Creativity","link":"https:\/\/normasueoneil.com\/?cat=40"},"img":{"alt_text":"Watercolor Painting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/normasueoneil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unicorns.jpg?fit=1200%2C820&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/normasueoneil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unicorns.jpg?fit=1200%2C820&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/normasueoneil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unicorns.jpg?fit=1200%2C820&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/normasueoneil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unicorns.jpg?fit=1200%2C820&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/normasueoneil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/unicorns.jpg?fit=1200%2C820&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2111,"url":"https:\/\/normasueoneil.com\/?p=2111","url_meta":{"origin":196,"position":1},"title":"Athena: The Mind That Builds","author":"normasue","date":"August 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Athena is more than the goddess of wisdom. 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