Sharing More Than Stuff
Your people will be my people and your God my God. Ruth 1:16
“But
I don’t want to share!” wailed my youngest child, brokenhearted that he
would have to part with even one of his many LEGO pieces. I rolled my
eyes at his immaturity, but truthfully, this attitude is not limited to
children. How much of my own life, and really all of human experience,
is marked by a stubborn resistance to freely and generously give to
others?
As believers in Jesus, we’re called to share our very lives with one another. Ruth did just that with her mother-in-law, Naomi. As a destitute widow, Naomi had little to offer Ruth. And yet Ruth connected her own life to her mother-in-law’s, vowing that they would press on together and that not even death would separate them. She said to Naomi, “Your people will be my people and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). She freely and generously gave to the older woman—showing love and compassion.
While sharing our lives in this way can be difficult, we should remember the fruit of such generosity. Ruth shared her life with Naomi, but later she bore a son, the grandfather of King David. Jesus shared His very life with us, but was then exalted and now reigns at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
As we generously share with one another, we can be confident that we will experience greater life still!
As believers in Jesus, we’re called to share our very lives with one another. Ruth did just that with her mother-in-law, Naomi. As a destitute widow, Naomi had little to offer Ruth. And yet Ruth connected her own life to her mother-in-law’s, vowing that they would press on together and that not even death would separate them. She said to Naomi, “Your people will be my people and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). She freely and generously gave to the older woman—showing love and compassion.
While sharing our lives in this way can be difficult, we should remember the fruit of such generosity. Ruth shared her life with Naomi, but later she bore a son, the grandfather of King David. Jesus shared His very life with us, but was then exalted and now reigns at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
As we generously share with one another, we can be confident that we will experience greater life still!
Good reminder! Even the smallest of actions on our part can be sharing the light of Christ with others.
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful to hear, thank you for sharing. It's such a good reminder- it's so hard to share. I loved the metaphor about "children" and how it's hard to share- it's hard to be open to letting others play with your toys, but as we get older we are called to share our lives with other believers and even non believers so that they get a glimpse of what it looks like to be a follower of Christ. We need to be OPEN to sharing our faith with one another because God calls us to be open. I need to personally be better about this, I think fear stops me to many times from being open and loud about my faith.
ReplyDeleteSharing is a difficult trait to cultivate but so vitally needed in all aspects of today's "me" generation. I think sometimes we think that sharing is a sign of weakness or that we are sacrificing but often the act of sharing reaps benefits that can not be measured by the world's standards of weights
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful devotion and is so perfect for those of us whose parents need our help. It can sometimes feel so overwhelming when our parents mental, physical and emotional health seems so fragile.:( May God give us all the strength to share our gifts freely and without any feelings of resentment. Help us to set examples for our students of God's love.
ReplyDeleteOur culture is so narcissistic and materialistic it is easy to get caught up in ourselves and things. In the bigger picture, these things are only a small part of our lives. God help us keep a larger perspective.
ReplyDelete