Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
Give The Gift Of Eternity
If God has given us a gift, it’s never only for ourselves. It’s always to be offered back to Him and very often it has repercussions for the life of the world. Jesus offered Himself to be bread for the life of the world. He said the bread that I will give is my body and I give it for the life of the world. For a Christian, the pattern is Jesus. What did He do? He offered Himself, a perfect and complete sacrifice, for the love of God. And you and I should be prepared, also, to be broken bread and poured out wine for the life of the world.
Elisabeth Elliot
However, we are gifted by the Lord, whether by way of material means or personal talents and abilities (or both), God expects us to be givers of the heart. God wants us to recognize and rejoice in the truth that he, as the giver of all good gifts, has an eternal plan specifically tailored for each of us. Our lives are under the careful control of our sovereign and righteous heavenly Father who works all things together for our good and his glory. Whether we have a little or a lot is in God’s hands.
More Is Never Enough
But in the real world, this spiritual dynamic can be hard to accept. As fragile humans living with the stain of sin within our hearts, we admittedly do struggle with wanting “more” sometimes. We often long to give “more” to our loved ones and that’s understandable. But perhaps God wants to do a deeper work in our hearts by teaching us that wanting “more” is a contentment issue…it always is. When we focus on what we do not have (or cannot give) we forfeit a happy, grateful heart that rises above our circumstances (or our limitations).
Gratitude Breeds Contentment
We must honestly come to realize, when we long for something we cannot have, material or otherwise, we must go to the Lord confess our lack of contentment as sin and begin thanking the good Lord for his abundant and many blessings (material or otherwise). We must understand that the bigger picture isn’t about giving material goods to those we love. It is prayerfully coming before God and asking him to show us how to give that which matters most and that which lasts for all eternity.
Give The Gift Of Jesus’ Love
Sure, it’s wonderful to be able to give materially to those we love. But at the end of our lives the love we gave away in the hope of bringing others to a saving faith in Jesus is the only gift that will matter. Give the gift that will stand the test of all eternity – tell your loved ones about Jesus and live your life to reflect Jesus in each and every situation.
Take-away Action Thought
When I give way to discontentment about what God has supplied for me, I will pray and confess this lack of gratitude as sin and begin giving thanks for his many blessings and perfect provision. I will not allow envy or jealousy to take root in my heart.
My Heart’s Cry to You, O Lord
Father, I struggled again today with a heart issue that I believed I had conquered long ago. But something triggered that dormant longing to have more so that I could give more. Please help me to hone a heart of grace-filled gratitude. You have always met our needs. You have frequently blessed us far beyond our means. I thank you for that. But I still admit that I sometimes find myself longing for “more,” and those longings take different shapes at different times. Please help me to make the best use of the gifts you have given me and to always remember that I can give lavishly of love, of prayer, and of service…and that those gifts can make an eternal impact. Amen.
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