I honestly think that many go into their place where God has or had called us to do with major expectations and honest motives. But with anything we need to watch and guard our hearts on why we do it our motives may be because we love the people and we love to make an impact, but it also could be because we love how it made us feel and how people look up to us. Its almost as if we should be anonymous in our doing, but we can’t be since if we’re staying in the background we’re not in the front lines in the battlefields reaching out to those who are lost.

I think true love is a tough pill to swallow. And true giving is a tougher pill. Humanly, we are wired to expect something in return, whereas it may never happen. That’s the part that people get tripped out on, “well if they are not grateful, why should we bother why should we sacrifice our time money and passions to help out these people?”. Sounds familiar to the story of Christ and the 10 lepers doesn’t it? Jesus knew that only 1 leper would come back and thank Him when He healed them. So why did he call the other 9 out? Not so much because He was disappointed and confused, but to make a point to the 12 disciples. Reaching souls doesn’t necessarily lead to notoriety so if that is your main motive in doing it, you will be sorely mistaken and disappointed.

Thanks for your comment. I’m with you on this. I believe it’s crucial to always be open to the Lord’s call for our lives. It seems as though one of the most important aspects of our relationship with Jesus is our willingness to do what he asks us to do, to be willing to potentially let everything go which we have been given and leave everything which we have come to know as normal. It seems as though God, throughout the Bible, used people who were willing to leave everything. The longer I live, the more I believe that God uses people, regardless of their societal position, who are completely dedicated to him. People completely surrendered to him. It doesn’t appear that God uses people who are luke warm in their faith, only half-hearted in their commitment to him.

Of course, the only way to know whether the Lord is calling us to be generous in one way or another is to have a deep, challenging, thriving relationship with him; to spend meaningful time with him meditating on his word, seeking his will for our lives with all that we are.

I am challenged to pray that God would test my generosity. What scares me more than the Lord actually calling me to be completely generous in ways that I never would have imagined, is never getting the opportunity to do so in the first place. It’s not the generosity that scares me, it’s missing the true calling of the Lord for my life that’s scary. However, I trust that if I continue to pursue Jesus, to surrender my own desires for the desires he has for me, He will provide for and lead me in ways that I never would have imagined.

I think the question you pose is centrally important. Are we willing to leave everything behind, to cut ties with everything that we hold as our own, to sacrifice everything in order to obey and follow Christ?

Now you could argue that Jesus was speaking to specific individuals and this isn’t a universal truth or whatever but the fact is that this happened. The important question is, “is it happening to you?”

Generosity is more than just a lack of materialism. And I’ll be honest it has been kicking my ass. To me it is the heart of the matter of following Jesus. I have a theory that is impossible to find a man that is living completely generously who doesn’t also exude every other “good” Christian quality in his life. It all flows together.

If you want a scary challenge, and I mean this sincerely, pray to God that he would test your generosity.

Thanks for journeying with me. It seems as though we are all in this together, and I am so thankful to have wise council and friends like you all. I am happy to have learned so much from your input and conversations. I am really looking forward to pursuing Jesus together, as his church, and learning how to best love others.

This doesn’t have to be the end of the conversation, I’m simply stating my utmost thanks for your input up to this point.