A Generous Spirit
Janet R. Parker (Connecticut, USA)




TODAY'S READING
Luke 6:27-38


THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
It is a blessing both to give and to receive.


PRAYER FOCUS
Those experiencing financial hardship




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 (NIV)


Decades ago, I had a friend who needed financial assistance. I helped her because she needed it, and I was able to. Years later, when my own finances were in shambles, an old college friend came to my rescue. At that time I had little money to spare and struggled to make it from one month to the next.

I remember getting a check in the mail a week before I was due to receive my disability income. I went to the bank to cash it. The rules of the bank required me to have enough money in my account to cover the face value of the check, and I did not. The bank supervisor must have sensed my desperation and made an exception to the rule and cashed it anyway. Relief washed over me. Not long after that, I made a donation to a Christian organization, feeling very thankful for kind deeds and for God’s angels who have helped me.

God encourages us to carry one another’s burdens as a sign that we love one another. The good Samaritan recognized this. I have had the good fortune and blessing to be in both positions — blessed to be needed and humbled to need. And I’ve learned that generosity is not about the amount of money you have to give. It’s about your willingness to be kind — to give and receive with an open heart.


TODAY'S PRAYER
God of bounty, nurture within us a spirit of generosity that is eager to help others as we have been helped. Amen.