I LOVE Sundays. They are literally one of my favorite days of the week. It’s the day that I get to go to church, serve, love on others and learn about God—all the while surrounded by those I cherish. What could be greater than that?
On Sundays, I serve hard, then I rest hard. One Sunday my two oldest daughters had a youth meeting in the evening. My amazing husband decided to drive them so I could stay home and finish some “laundry,” which in reality meant I was finishing a girlie movie.
Now I don’t know exactly what happened during the youth meeting, but Jesus must have come down in person for a visit. When the girls got home, my thirteen-year-old walked through the doors and beelined for me in the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around me, nestled her head in my shoulders and said, “Mom, I just want you to know that I love you, and I’m so thankful that you’re my mom.”
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR. What just happened? I was so shocked that I started tearing up. For those of you who have teenage girls, you know I’m not lying when I say there comes a stage where you have serious parental cooties. Gone are the days of snuggling and physical touch.
In fact, sometimes when I want to hug them, I’ve gotta sneak up on them like a panther waiting for its prey. Then bam, I go in for the hug and I usually get a, “Mmmmoooommmm, stop that!”
The days when I could kiss my little ones on their luscious little lips are now replaced with forehead kisses.
What’s up with that? So, when she came in that door and hugged me of her own free will and told me how much she loved me—the floodgates of my heart and soul began gushing all over the place.
I brought that moment before the Lord in prayer the following morning and just wept and thanked Him for His goodness. Then, I began thinking of ways that I could bless my daughter.
The love she poured out on me marked me in a way that compelled me to give back to her.
That’s what love does, it makes us want to give back—not begrudgingly or in scarcity, but with a full-on life of generosity.
John 3:16 says: “for God so loved the world ... that He gave.” Someday I am going to write a book on generosity in all its deliciously fabulous forms. I couldn’t imagine a more generous God. Generous in love. Generous in mercy. Generous in forgiveness. It’s at the core of who God is and who He created us all to be.
When I receive the generosity of God, I can in turn be generous to others. I get the exquisite opportunity to pour out His lush goodness onto the world around me. It’s as if my heart and spirit are swept away in a tidal wave of His presence and I can’t help but want to live there with Him, rising and falling on the tide of generosity—forever—and honestly, it’s solely because of His rich love towards me.
I don’t think you can actually experience the love of God in a transforming way without it leading to generosity. They go hand in hand.
God has a purpose woven into the minuscule fibers of a generous life. It ultimately makes room for the deeper work God wants to do in and through us. When you are called to sacrifice and be generous, make sure you’re giving your best and not something you didn’t want anyway. That’s not true sacrifice.
True generosity, true sacrifice, is giving the best of what you have with a great heart to those around you, even when it might hurt.
"Learn to freely receive. Remember, you cannot give what you do not have. Learn to freely give. It will always return to you ten fold. Look for opportunities to Just Be generous today."
Photo Credit: Brigitte Tohm
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