tit for tat

my family will be going back to haiti at the beginning of 2014 and in preparation, my oldest brother (brad) had the idea to be reading the bible together every day, and weekly posting our thoughts/comments/etc... for all of us to read. we're trying to read with eyes & hearts that highlight justice, generosity, love.

this has been such an amazing nine days so far! reading the bible with a purpose is something i would really encourage you to do. it's also amazing to have a bunch of other people who are eager to know what you think about what they're reading as well. accountability, YOU KNOOOW. plus those little check marks i get after i read each passage doesn't hurt either. it really eggs on the responsibility and strategic in me.

so towards the end of matthew five, Jesus is talking about turning the other cheek if someone slaps ya right in the money maker. the message version really toots my horn here because that paragraph ends with, "no more tit-for-tat stuff. live generously."

does anything else really sum up the calling of God in our lives to be generous so well? i've got a PHD in generosity. my dad is the most generous person i've ever encountered. and the way he orchestrates his life in an effort just to be generous is the best example. a few of my brothers really demonstrate that generosity as well. i also work for an extremely generous family who make being employed a blast. i seem to have always encountered such grace with generous employers. i've got a really good friend who has never even considered keeping any kind of tally of "what you owe me's". i've got a boyfriend who would give the shirt off his back to give to someone who looks a little chilly.

examples of generosity are huge, but if you don't have any - read matthew five. Jesus despises tit-for-tat and i think so do i. tight budgets and fancy things don't mean anything to him in the context of generosity. when we were in haiti, they rolled out the red carpet of whatever they had because they longed to be generous. their everything was america's nothing and God's delight. 

i've talked before about how i think morningstar and IHOP people are crackheads. but dang, do they put out some good worship. there's a song called all is for your glory by cory asbury. he sings:

catch me up in your story, all my life for your glory.
catch me up in your story, all my life for your glory....
...all this for your glory, all this for your name...
that in all things you would have the first place.

 God's story is generous - giving up his very life for you to have yours. i'm praying that i adopt that narrative.