Lenten Reflection—With All Your Heart God’s Generous Heart
If you look up the definition of generous in the Miriam Webster’s dictionary, it says
“characterized by a noble or kindly spirit; liberal in giving.”
I don’t think that any of us can deny the fact that our God is liberal in giving! Each morning that we open our eyes is a gift. He blessed us with our earthly home and he “gives us this day our daily bread” and everything else we need to sustain our lives. As we know, he did not stop there! He also gave us his own son who display the ultimate act of generosity by sacrificing his life to redeem us, securing our heavenly future.
How do we recognize God for his generosity? Many people talk about “giving something up for Lent”. I would like to propose that we go out of our way to practice generosity. I invite you to reflect upon some excerpts from Kahlil Gibran’s book, The Prophet:
You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. . .
There are those who give little of the much which they have—and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.
And there are those who have little and give it all.
These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.
And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism. . .
It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding; And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving. And is there aught you would withhold? All you have shall someday be given; Therefore, give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors’.
You often say, “I would give, but only to the deserving.”
The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.
Surely, he who is worthy to receive his days and nights, is worthy of all else from you.
And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream. . .
See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.
For in truth it is life that gives unto life—while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness. And you receivers—and you are all receivers—assume no weight of gratitude,
lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.
For to be over mindful of your debt, is to doubt His generosity. . .
submitted by Dr. Martina Moore
