Give to those who cannot repay you. Parties are thrown to get to go to bigger parties. Gifts are given expecting equal or larger gifts in return. Laws often get passed by trading votes for some expected repayment. Favors are given for favors in return. What if we learn to give not expecting the other person to give us something back? What if love-driven generosity itself was our motivation for giving? Jesus taught against giving-to-get because in the end it will corrupt us. Lord Jesus, teach us how to give with a pure heart! Amen!
“He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:12–14 (ESV)
{From the NEW devotional book, “Sonlight for the Soul”, by H. Lamar Smith, your devotional book for 2023. Available on Amazon.)
