Have you forgotten that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you, and that you are not the owner of your own body? You have been bought, and at what a price! Therefore bring glory to God both in your body and your spirit, for they both belong to him. 1 Corinthians 6:20 (Phillips)
Giving and Living
Giving can be a sticky subject.
If you give with the expectation of receiving something from the receiver, is it truly a gift?
I love the thought of selfless giving, meaning providing something for someone who has no way to pay you back.
But I’ve often given the right gift for the wrong reason.
It might be the desire to be praised, noticed, or thought well of, or it could be any number of other self-serving reasons.
Do I get credit for such a gift?
I’ve given in the past with only a slight expectation of a returned favor.
I’ve not even provided when the right thing to do would have been to provide.
At times I’ve given—from my heart—the right gift to the right person, only to see that gift squandered or rejected by the receiver.
I’ve also given the wrong gift to the right person for the right reason and harmed that person.
I’ve given money to an addicted mother to buy food for her kids, but she spent it on drugs.
Yes, giving is great—but hard to do well.
Yet giving is the joy of life.
Giving is just another way to spell living.
As I give, I become less like the Dead Sea—void of life, continually receiving, never giving out.
By sharing, I become more like a moving stream of living water, constantly being refreshed, renewed, reformed, and giving life.
Paying back is not a gift, but paying forward is.
And Jesus taught us to pay it forward, for a storehouse in heaven is waiting for us when we arrive.
I can’t wait to see all the people in heaven who touched my life with their giving and God Who supplied it all!
Even more, I long to see all those I could touch by just paying forward what God had given me to spend in terms of my time, talents, or treasure.
Oh, what a day that will be!
What is your biggest challenge to giving freely?
How would the lives of others be transformed by the giving of your life to serve Christ?
Lord, awaken us to the joy of giving all. Yes, all. Our lives are not our own; You have purchased us to free us to share Your love with others. Amen