There is a counter-intuitive side to living for Jesus. It goes against the flow of what we would think and feel. It defies logic and convention. Jesus was constantly challenging his followers to live in ways that, left to themselves, they would never have thought to:
- Love your enemies.
- Pray for those who persecute you (Mt. 5:44).
- If you want to be great, serve (Luke 22:27).
- If you want to live, you must first die (Mt 16:24).
Counter-intuitive. And yet these thoughts can transform your life and take you to a whole new level of freedom, joy and power in life.
In these verses, Jesus gives us another counter-intuitive challenge – “Give and it will be given to you”. Jesus is not advocating becoming a doormat that others can manipulate and manage. He is insisting that there are certain things that simply are not important in life. There are some things in life that are of little or no value in keeping, but of great value in giving. First, Jesus says there is no value in holding on to an opinion but great freedom in treating all people with equal honor. Our judgment of people is irrelevant considering that there is only one judge (James 4:12). Second he says that there is no value in holding a grudge but great power in forgiveness (Col. 3:13). In fact, it is in the context of this passage that Jesus cites the Golden Rule – “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” In doing so, Jesus says we fulfill all the requirements of God (Mt. 7:12).
In his third counter-intuitive challenge he insists that there is no value in holding on to material things but great value in generosity. In fact he begins to talk about a “standard of measure”. Normally when someone talks about measuring things, the issue is equality or fairness. Not so with God. That the return for our generosity is greater generosity from God. God has a tendency to overflow in his responses to us. He overflows in his:
- Favor (Ps 23:5).
- Grace (Rm 5:13).
- Hope (Rm 15:13).
- Joy (2 Cor 8:2).
- Love (1 Jn 3:1).
The Bible also says that he overflows in his return to us when we give:
Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. Pr 3:9,10
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. Mal. 3:10
What is one way that you can practice generous giving this month?
