"Freedom Has a Cost. So Does Sonship.

— A Memorial Day Reflection on Sacrifice, Courage, and Calling

Over a million* lives. That’s the price paid by the brave men and women who gave everything in service to our country. Not for recognition. Not for comfort. But for something larger than themselves.

On Memorial Day, we pause to remember them. And as we do, we’re faced with a haunting question:

What kind of men are we becoming with the freedom they purchased?

We live in a culture obsessed with ease. With safety. With avoiding pain and rejecting sacrifice. But manhood — real manhood — is built on the exact opposite.

Sacrifice. Conviction. Doing the hard thing when no one else will.

That’s what we remember today. That’s what we honor. And if we’re honest, many of us need a reintroduction to that kind of courage — not just as citizens, but as sons.

You see, sonship isn’t passive. It’s not a soft, sentimental identity. It’s a call to rise. To follow Christ into obedience. To say yes to the hard thing. Jesus didn’t just save you from something. He saved you for something.

He took the nails. He bore the shame. He faced the wrath. Not because it was easy—but because it was worth it.

And now, as sons, we’re called to live the same way. To sacrifice. To stand. To be the kind of men who understand that freedom always costs something. And identity in Christ? That’ll cost you your pride, your passivity, and your comfort.

But what you gain is worth more than words can describe.

So today, as we remember the fallen—let’s honor them not just with our words, but with our lives.

Let’s be the kind of men who know: Doing the hard thing is what sons do. *As of recent estimates, over 1.1 million U.S. military personnel have died in service to the nation since the Revolutionary War. This figure encompasses both combat-related deaths and other service-related fatalities across all major conflicts.