When I was younger, and my birthday or Christmas was approaching, I mostly thought about the gifts I would get. But as I got older, I started thinking less about what I would get and more about what I would give.
I would like to think my outlook changed because I matured (although that statement might be arguable 😬). But I do know that I have discovered joy in giving.
In the same way, when we first become Christians, we want all that God had for us, and so we should. We go to church to learn, to take in, and that is great.
But as the years pass, we realize that God wants to work through us as well.
As a result, our lean should be to want to give more than receive. Of course, we must always take in before we can give out. But at the same time, we discover the joy of giving, the joy of serving.
There is a beautiful blessing in the Gospel of Luke where Jesus said, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back” (Luke 6:38).
Instead of finding fulfillment, maybe you’re finding misery & dissatisfaction. That’s because we find true fulfillment in knowing God through Jesus Christ. We don’t find it in anything on this earth.
Obviously, we should never give, nor serve, with a motive or expectation to "get something back." But, with the amazing example of giving, and servanthood we see from Jesus in John 13 & the totality of His life; Why not commit yourself afresh to this blessed responsibility and privilege?
Have you lived your life well so far? Or are you squandering it in an elusive search for fulfillment and forgetting God in the process?
Instead of finding fulfillment, maybe you’re finding misery & dissatisfaction. That’s because we find true fulfillment in knowing God through Jesus Christ. We don’t find it in anything on this earth.
We will find the true full-life that we seek in a relationship with God. The full life is the life with God.
So don’t settle for some cheap imitation this world offers. Pursue the real thing.
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