I'm reading through a book called "Crazy Love" by a pastor in Simi Valley, CA named Francis Chan. (Got it as a gift on Valentine's Day- thanks Halley!) Anyways, it's about how God is love and we are called to love just like He did. This book will challenge your faith and make you come face to face with some realities about how comfortable we are "being Christians."
Anyways, I was just reading in Chapter 7 and I found this totally challenging. Francis talks about how we are to "not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth" and the actions are shown through giving to others. ( 1 John 3:18) I will let you read this excerpt that caught my attention:
Remember the story where Jesus fed thousands of people with one boy's small lunch? In that story, according to Matthew, Jesus gave the loaves to His disciples and then the disciples passed them out to the crowd. Imagine if the disciples had simply held onto the food Jesus gave them, continually thanking Him for providing lunch for them. That would've been stupid when there was enough food to feed the thousands who were gathered and hungry.
But that is exactly what we do when we fail to give freely and joyfull. We are loaded down with too many good things, more than we could ever need, while others are desperate for a small loaf. The good things we cling to are more than money; we hoard our resources, our gifts, our time, our families, our friends. As we begin to practice regular givingwe see how ludicrous it is to hold on to the abundance God has given us and merely repeat the words thank you.
Wow, isn't this true? I've never thought of it this way. That God has given us so much and He asks us to share it with the least of the people in this world. But we take it and we think it's ours! We say "Oh God you have blessed me, thank you so much!" And that's great, if our next line is "Now I am going to give half of it to others!" But the reality is, all too often, I think we hold on to it all and think it's ours. That image of the disciples holding the bread and just thanking Jesus really makes it clear for me. How ridiculous it would be if they did that... But look around and you see it happening all around us. I mean.... I'm guilty of it. But I want to be generous in my giving no matter if I have a lot or a little. One question Francis asks in the book is, "What are you doing right now that requires faith?" I don't know if I could answer that right away.. I would have to really think and dig something out.
Well, there's a challenge for us. Are we willing to give away what God has given us? It doesn't even have to be our money. What about our time? Our resources? Our spiritual gifts? There are "the least of the people" out there waiting for someone to step out and give what they have been given. Pay it forward!
2 comments:
Great post Tara! It's always a good reminder that we are to love through our actions. After all, actions speak louder than words at many times.
I love that Francis Chan is always asking the question, "What are you doing right now that requires faith?" He would speak at my college's chapel every year and would give out that challenge often. I think we naturally run away from anything that requires faith and trust, yet in order to live out God's calling we need to act and live in faith. Thanks for reminding us of this.
Love this book and LOVE Francis Chan!! :) Thanks for the post.
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