Day 11 – Gift

 

Gift - Orphanage Sierra Leone (DS)

You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well;  and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5: 38-42)

We live in a culture of blame. You owe me. He forced me. They made me. When we respond like that, we are part of the old mindset. Instead we must take responsibility back. By the way we respond, let us turn a demand into a gift. When we turn everything into a gift we refuse to be a victim. We firmly, but graciously, show that we are in a relationship of equals. Such responses are costly but they make something new possible. When we make a gift of it all, a trapped world is opened to the life of God and becomes a world in which even God freely gives himself. (Extract from Dust & Glory by David Runcorn) 

Prayer

Lord, help me to turn from defending my own honour to offering my life as a gift.

Remember today

Those who you consider a gift in life – family, friends, colleagues.

Gift from God  (JH)