We have a lot of animals…and they’re selfish! Ok not really, but they eat and eat and giving us nothing in return (well, at least the chickens give us eggs!).
We love our animals, and most of us are probably glad to give to a pet without expecting anything in return…but we often treat PEOPLE way worse than that! We’ll be kind IF they are kind to US. We’ll do them a favor as long as they do something for us. We’ll give them a gift if they give us something. Jesus calls us to a better way, even toward people that don’t like us.
In Luke 6:35, Jesus tells us to “love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” Being a giver won’t make you a Christian, but Jesus is saying that being a giver is one way for His love to flow through us, for us to look and act like our Savior.
Obviously we should give to the people we love, but Jesus extends that challenge even to our enemies. We can show people the love of Jesus by GIVING without expecting to GET anything back.
All we have to do is go outside and yell “Oh chickens” and they come running to GET treats. Our cat will yell for food (you can call it a meow if you want, but Boots is loud when he’s hungry! At least he doesn’t eat the fish!). Bella will knock you down on her way to get a snack, and the rabbits definitely like treats, but I have scratches from the last time I tried to hold one of them! It’s easy to be a taker, but giving gets people’s attention and often brings the opportunity to tell them about Jesus, the One Who gave everything for us!
Read about a wild ride those chickens got recently!
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