Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10

Generosity is a beautiful thing. I’ve been thinking about it a lot since we have been living over here, as Rebekah puts it, “East of Eden.”

We are surrounded by the most genuine and generous folk. And they’re all so natural, so authentic; it just comes naturally and they really don’t seem to give it a second thought.

All our lives Rebekah and I have been around people who understand intuitively that their gifts and resources have simply been placed in trust, the understanding that what we have is not so much ours as an opportunity to be a blessing to others.

“Blessed in order to be a blessing,” is one way of describing it. What a privilege to be entrusted with so much that generosity is an option.

Generosity of Spirit:

This makes me think of the “Time with young disciples” Rebekah shared in church last Sunday. She talked about why Jesus made such a point of inviting adults to be more like children. “You all interact with the world with your hands – and hearts – wide open,” she told them, “ready to learn and to embrace and to share. The older people get the more they clench their hands into fists, either holding on tightly to what they have or ready to fight.”

It’s a powerful image.

One of my Wake Forest neighbors was surprised to see me driving a Chevy Suburban all week. “Wow! You already know someone in Tarboro well enough they’re willing to loan you their SUV?!!”

“I probably know twenty guys who would lend me their truck!” I said. “It’s not just a sense of community it’s a sense of faith that infiltrates everything.”

This is what Jesus was talking about with the children. He wants us to engage the world with hands and arms and hearts wide open.

When we talk about things like “Christian values” this is what comes to mind. Not political views, not culture wars issues, not pointing out other people’s sins; but selfless generosity, humility and “using whatever gifts we have received to serve others” (1 Peter 4:10).

Hands and hearts wide open – DEREK