Give Your Gifts!
Dear Friend,
“But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” Matthew 6:3
I used to think this passage was about money. You know your tithe and giving to charities. Don’t be boastful or brag about how you give/when you give, is how I interpreted it. Yet like everything Jesus was trying to teach with the sermon on the mount, what if it goes deeper than that?
This translation talks about “giving your gifts”. Ephesians 12 stays this about gifts:
“Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”
Galatians 5:22-23 reminds us: “But the fruit (gifts) of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Let’s go back to the verse in Matthew 6. “But when when you give to someone in need, don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.
Give your wisdom,
Give your kindness,
Give your patience,
Give your healing,
Give your hospitality,
Give your prophecy,
Give your forgiveness,
Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
I think in Matthew 6 Jesus is asking that we give (not just financially) of ourselves without expecting anything in return. Sharing what we have, what we have been gifted with others freely, effortlessly, and with zero expectations.
When you extend that extra does of forgiveness to your spouse don’t remind him/her that you’re doing it, simply choose to do it. Don’t hound your kids about how patient you are because of all that you do as a parent; simply be patient. Be hospitable to those around you creating safe places wherever you are without mentioning it.
Give. Cheerfully. Today and everyday.
Abundantly With Love,
The Anonymous Wife
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