The True Meaning of Sacrifice
What if it wasn’t about suffering, but about offering?
What if it wasn’t about suffering, but about offering?
We’ve been taught that sacrifice is noble.
That to sacrifice means to suffer in silence.
To give up dreams for stability.
To put ourselves last for the sake of others.
To equate exhaustion with virtue.
And for many women — especially those in leadership, in motherhood, in service — sacrifice has been framed as our birthright.
But what if we’ve misunderstood the meaning of sacrifice all along?
A Personal Revelation
This week, I had a revelation that reframed everything I thought I knew.
I found myself whispering, “Natalie, you have sacrificed everything to build The Nourished Leader.”
And then I paused.
Because something in me tugged — what does “sacrifice” actually mean?
So I returned to the root.
The Original Meaning of Sacrifice
In Hebrew, the word for sacrifice is korban (קָרְבָּן).
It doesn’t mean to suffer or to lose.
It means:
“To draw near.”
To sacrifice, in its original sacred form, is not to give up,
but to offer up.
It is to bring something closer to the Divine.
To your truth.
To yourself.
It is not about martyrdom — it’s about intimacy.
The Western Distortion
Somewhere along the way, especially in Western, patriarchal, capitalist systems, sacrifice became something else entirely:
Suffering as identity
Self-erasure as virtue
Productivity over purpose
Control masked as loyalty
Women are told to sacrifice “for the family.”
Leaders are told to sacrifice “for the team.”
Mothers are told to sacrifice “for the kids.”
Immigrants are told to sacrifice “for the dream.”
Black women are told to sacrifice “for the culture.”
But no one teaches us how to sacrifice for self.
To sacrifice as an act of returning.
A Sacred Reframe
Here’s what came to me — and maybe it will come to you too:
I did not sacrifice to lose myself. I sacrificed to come back home to myself.
When I left the “safe” job…
When I walked away from titles and status…
When I used my retirement savings to build something that didn’t exist yet…
I wasn’t throwing my life away.
I was offering it up.
I was making a sacred exchange:
Everything false, for everything true.
Everything expected, for everything aligned.
Everything external, for everything internal.
And yes, it has cost me.
But it has also returned me to the deepest truth I know:
I am not here to live someone else’s version of success.
I am here to remember myself — fully, freely, and without apology.
Teachings from the Threshold
If you are in a season where everything feels hard…
If you are pouring into something unseen…
If you are wondering whether your “sacrifice” is worth it…
Here are three reframes that might meet you where you are:
1. Sacrifice is an offering, not a punishment.
You are not being punished for choosing your truth — you are being purified by it.
2. Debt is not always dysfunction.
Sometimes the debt you carry is a form of devotion — to the dream, to the build, to the truth you refused to abandon.
3. You are allowed to bet on yourself.
You are allowed to say: “This matters. I matter. I am building something worth honoring.”
Even if no one else sees it yet.
Closing Words
Sacrifice isn’t what we were taught.
It’s not about giving up — it’s about giving to.
Giving to your calling.
Giving to your clarity.
Giving to your becoming.
And the moment you realize that you’ve given everything — not to the fire, but to the altar — is the moment you realize:
You haven’t lost yourself.
You’ve finally returned.
Was this reflection meaningful to you?
If so, I’d love to hear what you’ve sacrificed — and what it returned you to.
Click the ❤️ or share this with someone who’s in the fire of becoming.