Be generous and willing to share. — 1 Timothy 6:18
After Vicki’s old car broke down with no option for repair, she started scraping together money for another vehicle.
Chris, a frequent customer of the restaurant where Vicki works at the drive-thru window, one day heard her mention she needed a car. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” Chris said. “I [had] to do something.” So he bought his son’s used car (his son had just put it up for sale), shined it up, and handed Vicki the keys.
Vicki was shocked. “Who . . . does that?” she said in amazement and gratitude.
The Scriptures call us to live with open hands, giving freely as we can — providing what’s truly best for those in need. As Paul says, Command [those who are rich] to do good, to be rich in good deeds (1 Timothy 6:18). We don’t merely perform a benevolent act here or there, but rather live out a cheerful spirit of giving. Big-heartedness is our normal way of life. “Be generous and willing to share,” we’re told (verse 18).
As we live with an open, generous heart, we don’t need to fear running out of what we need. Rather, the Bible tells us that in our compassionate generosity, we’re taking “hold of [true] life” (v. 19). With God, genuine living means loosening our grip on what we have and giving to others freely.
Today’s reflection was written by Winn Collier, pastor at All Souls Church, Charlottesville, VA, and was included in Our Daily Bread. He lives in Charlottesville with his wife, Miska, and their two sons. Winn likes friendship, fair-trade coffee, smart movies, books worth reading, mountains, questions, and walking in the woods. Winn dislikes pretense, fear, injustice — and that he doesn’t live anywhere near a Planet Smoothie. He writes for magazines and is the author of four books: Restless Faith: Hanging on to a God Just Out of Reach; Let God: The Transforming Wisdom of François Fénelon; Holy Curiosity: Encountering Jesus’ Provocative Questions; and his recent fiction, Love Big, Be Well: Letters to a Small-Town Church. Our Daily Bread provides daily encouragement on a variety of social media including online, by e-ail, and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Be a peacemaker.
The Light 