Sacrifice Leads to GREAT Results

This week I have been reminded of the sacrifices that so many people have made resulting in wonderful outcomes.  On Monday it was my pleasure to hand out certificates to those students who sacrificed time and energy to produce outstanding results on their End Semester 1 reports.  At GCCC we hand out certificates to those students who attain an A grade on at least half their subjects.  Of more value though, are the certificates I hand out for effort.  These are given to those students who gain Very Good for Effort in all but possibly one of their subjects.To gain a certificate of this type requires a great deal of sacrifice.  The wonderful thing is, the gain from this sacrifice will last a lifetime as they have begun to train their minds to become independent learners.

We also recognised lots of other sacrifices this week.  The athletics carnival was a huge success on Tuesday with the final result yet to be announced as a few events are scheduled over the next couple of days.  It was fantastic to see students achieve PB’s (Personal Bests) in their events.  A Personal Best is only possible after great sacrifice in training for the event.

At the Fiji Mission Team Parent evening on Monday, we saw the culmination of great sacrifice from both students and parents of the team.  Many of these students worked extremely hard to find the funds to get to Fiji.  They sacrificed their time every Friday to train for the trip.  The result was that they went to a different country to bless people over there but instead they came back truely blessed by those they went to serve.

Finally, this week we acknowledged the centenary of the beginning of World War 1.  For Australia, the First World War remains the most costly conflict in terms of deaths and casualties. From a population of fewer than five million, 416,809 men enlisted, of which over 60,000 were killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner.  The sacrifice by so many will not be forgotten.  It is argued that their sacrifice resulted in the true birth of our nation.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus presented a revolutionary teaching about sacrifice. “If you want to be great, here is how to achieve it: sacrifice and give of yourself to others.” Matthew 23:11

Christ is teaching that sacrifice is the gateway to greatness. This concept is quite foreign to our western mindset, but this doesn’t change the fact that it is true.  Our students who went to Fiji learned so much about how giving sacrificially to others reaps such GREAT rewards.  Ultimately, not only did Jesus teach this concept of sacrifice but he lived it! He laid down his very life on the cross for us (Matthew 20:28). Jesus has set a true example of sacrifice that has changed the world. He demonstrated to us that sacrifice is the gateway to GREATness. As believers, we have been called to follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21).

David Heyworth, Head of Senior School