Anytime I tell a story in church about a generous act that some person did, there is always someone else who says, "well, I could never do that." No, I cannot give that much money. No, I was not here when a certain sacrifice was made in the past. No, I was not able to adopt a child for Christmas. Such things people will say. All reasonable comments, and all true.
Well, let us take generosity out of the hands of the extravagant and put it into the hands of simple sincerity. No one cares about the size of a gift. No one judges another by how impressive a particular act may be. The widow's mite.
Generosity is an act of the heart. If it is not of the heart, then it is not a generous act. Every person can act generously. To give your time. To bake cookies for another. To share a meal with a friend. To shovel the snow off someone else's porch. To put the magic blue water in their car for their windshield. To loan someone a pair of gloves. To smile at them and hug them. Smiles and hugs are free and they are abundantly available in a generous heart.
Do not worry about big or small, quiet or noisy. Just act out your living in a generous fashion. As God has acted on our behalf in Christ, we can act to touch others. Begin with something small. That is where it all starts. A willing heart, making room for the comfort of another.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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3 comments:
You are so right! I was the recipient of one such simple gift. On a snowy day, someone from my building scraped all the windows on my car. As I rode the elevator down at the end of that day, I was dreading the task of scraping in my good clothes....but someone (I never did learn who) took the time and effort to do it all for me. Wow! I've never forgotten that.
I love this blog Jeff. I hope tons of people are reading it. A desire to give is where it all starts--that's the love. And we all know that love is the greatest gift of all. And as you have pointed out, there are so many inexpensive ways to share it.
Thank you for reminding us.
We received a card from someone we didn't even know when our name was in the Beacon for the Baptism of our child. Simple Card and a stamp. But beautiful words that brightened our day.
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