Read it: Matthew 5-7
Live it:
The past three days I have ended our time together by having you ask yourself the question “How are you going to respond?” Our reading today contains some of the best guidance to begin to answer the question of how we can respond to the gift that Jesus gave us through his sacrifice.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not a very good receiver of gifts because for me a lot of times there were strings attached to the gifts that were offered to me from my family. They might have given me something or taken me somewhere, but then if I did something wrong, they said, “After all I have done for you, this is how you’re going to treat me?” I started to realize that when I was given something, there were expectations; those gifts were conditional. The gifts that were given to me were used to manipulate me. My response began to be that I’m not going to take gifts. I’m good. I don’t need anything from anyone.
Some people feel shame when it comes to gifts being offered to them. They don’t feel like they deserve it. Some people feel stress and shame when it comes to gifts that are offered to them. They feel like they owe the person back a debt that they cannot pay back.
Stress, shame, and putting strings on the gifts that God gives you is not the way to respond to his gifts. It is not humility. It’s actually being prideful. I want you to accept his gifts today. God is giving them to you because he loves you.
Be praying about tomorrow. We are going to end this series with a tangible way that you can respond to the free gift that God offers us.
Ps. James
