Luke 6:38
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.

Last night I experienced my favorite part of the holidays. Behind closed doors, Parker, Will, and Sydney all worked feverishly in their rooms wrapping the gifts that they had purchased for others. After the tape was torn, bows were attached and tags were filled out, they emerged with smiles on their faces and arranged them perfectly under the tree. Then they sat at the dinner table and talked non-stop about who was going to like what gift the most and which gift they were most excited about giving. Not bad for two 11 year-olds and a 7 year-old. Actually, not bad no matter what the age.

I told them all later how much joy it gave me and their mother to hear them talk so excitedly about the presents they were giving as opposed to the ones they would be getting, and that attitudes like theirs made us enjoy giving to them all the more. I couldn’t help but think of this verse and how it’s been taught so incorrectly over the years. I remember even seeing a charm once with a shovel and a wheelbarrow that tried to interpret this verse in a “you can’t out-give God” kind of a way. I get that on some levels, but I think that verses like this can get cheapened by analogies like that, because they miss the point that true giving never needs any motivation to give other than wanting to see another person be blessed. Who cares if there’s a wheelbarrow that might be full for us, because if we truly understand giving, we’ll probably just give that away, too.

I want to give like the Giver, free of the hope that my generosity will be returned or that someone will see what I’ve done. I want to give freely so that others can freely use what I’ve given, and until I can do that, I have a lot to learn from my children.

How about you?

Romans 5:3
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance…

Tonight as my family and I ordered our meal at a local restaurant, Sydney leaned in and asked me if I would order her some onion rings without onions. Yes, I just about spewed what was in my mouth, too. At least I wasn’t in front of a computer monitor!

It really was a great moment, because I could relate to exactly what she was feeling. She had just heard her brothers order onion rings, and she loves the smell of them but hates onions. Her unusual request was really her wishing she liked onions because they sounded – and smelled – so good. Of course, she wasn’t happy when I told her that onion rings were called that because, well, they’ve got onions. But let’s peel back the layers of this innocent moment for a minute and see what Sydney revealed about all of us.

I have to admit that I have heard very strong believers tell very strong stories of faith and have been enamored with the thought of having those same stories in my life. As I listen to them tell motivating story after motivating story, I want to be that close to the Lord, too. The bad news is that they usually paid quite a price in suffering to get there, and as our verse says, you can’t have one without the other.

The good news is that when we suffer, we can know that good will come of it. That’s not a reason to seek suffering, but it is a great reason to have hope in it. Soon, we, too, will speak of the faithfulness and miraculous work of our Lord in such a way that others will want what we have, too.

Of course, we’ll just smile and lovingly tell them to order the onion rings.

Romans 12:9
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good.

I married up. No doubt about it and I’m not afraid to admit it. Of course, anyone who knows Wendy already knows this is true and most who know her also pray for her because she married down! Still today, over 18 years later, I think of our wedding day and smile and am overwhelmed with the thought that God blessed me so greatly in Wendy. Yes, I married up.

I don’t know how it was for you when you married, if you married. For me, it wasn’t hard because I’d seen what was out there and so when I found this woman who was passionate about Jesus, was full of His grace and compassion and had a heart to minister, it was pretty much a no-brainer. Throw in the fact that she was wonderfully hand-crafted by the Lord (translation…smokin’ hot) and could see past how I looked, and marriage was an awesome celebration!! I was on that day, and still am today, the happiest man in the world.

God calls each of us to marry the good the same way I married Wendy. When she walked down the aisle, everything else faded away. The nerves, the fear, the disbelief that she had chosen me. It all just went away because she filled the room and filled my vision. I could see nothing but her, and when we see the good that God has called us to, it isn’t that we have to struggle to hate what is evil so much as it is that the good just overcomes it. Everywhere we go, everything we see reminds us of the good and how much better it is than anything else we could have married.

Today, you have the opportunity to show this world sincere love. Love that is not divided, not disguised, not fake. Love that is tenacious in the way it sees and holds onto good things, and is just as tenacious in the way it throws away the bad. Love that is glued to what is useful, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy, excellent, upright and honorable. Love that won’t let any of those qualities go in the same way I will never let Wendy go, because we’d be fools if we did.

Love like that and watch the world shine as His glory overtakes the evil in it. Love like that and fulfill the will of God, which, at least for today, is simple…

Marry the good.