"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again" (Luke 6:38).
While our Lord's pronouncement regarding generosity certainly applies to material matters, the truth also applies to an attitude of largesse concerning relationships with people. We tend to receive that which we bestow.
"The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works ... As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men" (Psalm 145:9; Galatians 6:10).
An attitude of good will to all, based upon God's predilection to grace and mercy, must characterize our demeanor, words, and actions as we seek to faithfully serve as "ambassadors for Christ" (II Corinthians 5:20). Not everyone will respond to our kindness, of course, any more than do we ourselves always respond to God's goodness as bestowed upon ourselves. Nevertheless, He blesses our hearts with peace and fulfillment as we reflect His character, nature, and way, regardless of the response we receive from those to whom we display His love. We receive in kind that which we distribute, whether from our human recipient, or from the Lord who fills us as we empty ourselves.
I have frequently walked into a busy establishment with the irritated feeling (temptation, actually) that I want to be anywhere but a crowded place, filled with hurried and harried people. In those times when I come to my senses, realizing that the circumstance actually offers opportunity to honor and represent the Lord Jesus Christ, great peace and joy fills my heart with the realization of opportunity to display that "the Lord is good to all." An open heart to God and humanity graces our faces, attitudes, and demeanor with love from Above. Many blessed moments have resulted from such remembrance, as people tend to respond to openness and kindness with openness and kindness. Of course, there are those stinkers ( :) ) who choose to remain in themselves, but even they become opportunities to pray that whatever troubles their hearts, the Lord Jesus will be known as the hope, comfort, and salvation thereof. Moreover, so long as we are being what the Lord would have us to be, our hearts know the contentment of His presence and working in us.
"Give, and it shall be given unto you." The stream of Life that flows outward from us results in even greater measures of Life rushing in to replace and refresh. "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14). Again, the goodness we personally receive from the Lord Jesus comes back to us as we bestow such grace, whether from our recipients' response in kind, or from God's filling of our hearts. Often it's both, and we rejoice in the sublime ambassadorship whereby anywhere and everywhere we find opportunity to "do good unto all men."
"Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
(I Corinthians 10:31)
While our Lord's pronouncement regarding generosity certainly applies to material matters, the truth also applies to an attitude of largesse concerning relationships with people. We tend to receive that which we bestow.
"The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works ... As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men" (Psalm 145:9; Galatians 6:10).
An attitude of good will to all, based upon God's predilection to grace and mercy, must characterize our demeanor, words, and actions as we seek to faithfully serve as "ambassadors for Christ" (II Corinthians 5:20). Not everyone will respond to our kindness, of course, any more than do we ourselves always respond to God's goodness as bestowed upon ourselves. Nevertheless, He blesses our hearts with peace and fulfillment as we reflect His character, nature, and way, regardless of the response we receive from those to whom we display His love. We receive in kind that which we distribute, whether from our human recipient, or from the Lord who fills us as we empty ourselves.
I have frequently walked into a busy establishment with the irritated feeling (temptation, actually) that I want to be anywhere but a crowded place, filled with hurried and harried people. In those times when I come to my senses, realizing that the circumstance actually offers opportunity to honor and represent the Lord Jesus Christ, great peace and joy fills my heart with the realization of opportunity to display that "the Lord is good to all." An open heart to God and humanity graces our faces, attitudes, and demeanor with love from Above. Many blessed moments have resulted from such remembrance, as people tend to respond to openness and kindness with openness and kindness. Of course, there are those stinkers ( :) ) who choose to remain in themselves, but even they become opportunities to pray that whatever troubles their hearts, the Lord Jesus will be known as the hope, comfort, and salvation thereof. Moreover, so long as we are being what the Lord would have us to be, our hearts know the contentment of His presence and working in us.
"Give, and it shall be given unto you." The stream of Life that flows outward from us results in even greater measures of Life rushing in to replace and refresh. "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14). Again, the goodness we personally receive from the Lord Jesus comes back to us as we bestow such grace, whether from our recipients' response in kind, or from God's filling of our hearts. Often it's both, and we rejoice in the sublime ambassadorship whereby anywhere and everywhere we find opportunity to "do good unto all men."
"Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
(I Corinthians 10:31)
Weekly Memory Verse
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
(II Peter 1:20-21)
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