So I picked my daughter up from Brownies and as we left, another Brownie said to my her ‘I’ll bring it back next week’. I asked my daughter what it was she had given to her friend and she said ‘my heart of course’.
Last week she had made a Hama bead heart and she had given it to a Brownie to look after for the week. That Brownie had bought it back and now someone else was taking it home so that ‘her heart could see more of the world’.
We walked home and I was telling my daughter how proud I was of her because she had given away something that was precious to her. She wanted to spread and share her love and to help people feel special and it was clear from the looks on the other girls faces that she had succeeded.
How freely are we able to share what we have?
I thought about it some more and then it dawned on me that she was actually expecting her heart back. It was not a gift, but a loan.
When we share what we have, do we give freely or are there really strings attached?
It’s easy to love or be kind to people when they are good to us, but will we love freely and sacrificially regardless of whether we will get anything back or not?
‘While we were still sinners Christ died for us’ (Romans 5.8).
To sin is to rebel against God and his will, so in other words, Jesus died for us while we were still in active rebellion against God. Jesus sacrificed his life for humanity which was acting and living as God’s enemies. Jesus gave his heart and his life for us and the good news is that he doesn’t want it back. His love for us is never-ending and complete and there is enough to go around.
Jesus gave his life to open up the way for us to know God but how will we respond? Will we turn to God, asking for his forgiveness and choosing to make him our Lord. Jesus shows his love for us, but will we love him in return?
When he was on the earth, Jesus began a new way of life that he called the Kingdom of God. His kingdom is about rediscovering what it means to live as God originally intended as we find freedom from sin and fulfilment in becoming more like Jesus. The Kingdom of God is about things being turned upside down but then we realize that things are actually being turned the right way up again. Sacrificial love is a good example, imagine a world where everyone loved freely and unconditionally. It sounds like an amazing place to live and that is God’s plan for us.
Have we given Jesus our heart?
Is it his to keep or do we want it back?
Do we love Jesus even when life is tough?
Will we love others unconditionally as Jesus has loved us?
Honest about my faith 