Giving Joyfully To Others
Romans 12:6-10 “ In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.”
Whether you know what it is or you’re still in the process of figuring it out, God has equipped all Christians with a gift of some sort, and we are to use these gifts with a selfless and giving heart. When we do this, it allows us to show others a glimpse of God and his love by our actions, ultimately allowing us to glorify Him.
Some time ago, I found myself treating people I had just met better than I would treat my own wife. I couldn’t understand why my attitude was so harsh when there was any sign of conflict or stress. Especially when all my anger or bitterness was unloaded on the person that loved me most.
With that being said, I’d like to challenge you with a couple questions:
1- “Do you go out of your way to show love to others?”
2- “Do you feel any joy or happiness when see people being loved by you?”
These are the same questions I had asked myself when I came to the conclusion that I needed to change my approach in a major way. I found out that I actually did find joy and happiness in the response to the love I showed people, especially when that person was my wife. I thought I was joyful when it was just someone I barely new, I actually felt true happiness when my wife was on the receiving end of my love and it made me want to do it as often as possible.
What can you continue or begin to do on a more regular basis to change the way you treat each other with love as God has called us to? Remember that our love is supposed to be genuine and not pretend, so I challenge you to be mindful of the way you can affect other people by your love.
~Nick~
