Give your life away!

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Luke 6:38

I don’t know about you, but I get a very fun image of God’s love as I read this passage. I’m sure you’ve all done it... you open a bag of chips and upon trying to pour them into a bowl or container you realize that they just don’t quite fit. So, what do you do? Of course you pick up the container, shake it, roll it around in the air a bit, tap it on the counter, and shake it a bit more. As the chips settle in, you can then add the remainder of the bag! Ahh, success! And if you’re a really good shaker, you’ll even have extra room on the top! 

I had read this verse many times in the past and for some reason the only “give” that came to my mind was money. But I’ve had this verse come to me three times this week in different messages at a time when I’m seeking and learning about God’s ‘real love’. The Message translation states it like this, “Give away your life, you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back--given back with bonus and blessing! Giving, not getting is the way. Generosity begets generosity.” 

God is love, and he calls us to love. He calls us to love everyone and to love them like he loves them- with no conditions, with grace and forgiveness, and with all we’ve got!

He calls us to love the husband who hurts or disappoints us repeatedly. He calls us to love the one who just abandoned us. He calls us to love our children with discipline even when it’s easier to let them do their own thing. He sacrificed everything for us and he calls us to do the same for those around us. Love gives even when it’s inconvenient. It gives when the other person chooses not to accept. Love is not easily offended because the giver chooses to give and is not expecting anything in return. 

But God does not ask us to do something that we could never truly accomplish. In order to love like this, we simply need more of Him. We need to overflow with his love so that it spills out on others. In our own power we do not have the capacity to love like this. So here’s where I see God saying, “Completely give your life away in love.” Then when I’ve given all I can give, He pours his blessing of love on me, picks me up, shakes me around, rolls me in the air a bit, taps me on the counter, and shakes me a bit more so that he can fill me even more and then He fills me to overflowing with his love through the gift of the Holy Spirit!

all someone in need of a friend. Make a meal for a person who's down and out or ill. Share your time with the local charity. Send cards, host parties or Bible Studies, hug till it hurts, give compliments, smile at everyone! Give till it hurts, then give some more. 

I don’t know about you, but I want to be shaken up, rolled around, and tapped on the counter so that God can fill me to overflowing. I want to give my life away first to God and then to everyone I meet! I want to pour my love out on others even when they don’t deserve or want it! I am so loved by my Father that I want to share it with others and then be refilled to be poured out again.