A while back, I had a discussion with some friends about the five languages of love (don't ask why). They are of course affirmation, acts of service, quality time, physical touch and gifts. I am an occasional gift giver. It's not high in my list of ways to express love, but for the people I consider my closest friends (and family), I will give them gifts. The worst part is trying to figure out what to give them. It may take me many days and many trips agonizing over the perfect gift, and ultimately, I buy a completely random item that they throw in a corner and never use. As you can see, I'm a very bad gift giver.
However Peter and John are amazing gift givers. They too saw a chance to show love to this beggar and gave him the greatest give of all. Yes he needed money, food, shelter, everything, but even more so, he needed Christ. With Christ came His life changing healing power and joy beyond comprehension. Yet, for myself, despite how much I love my friends, I still give them inane and useless trinkets instead of the one gift they really need. Whether it be my own shyness/awkwardness/lack of good judgment, I'm full of bad excuses. If I truly loved my friends, I would want to see them saved. It's odd, when I use to be involved in campus ministries, I had very little problem walking up to a complete stranger and asking them if they know about Christ. Yet, when I talk with my non-Christian friends, breaching that question of religion is among the hardest things I have ever had to do. What always pulls me over the hurdle is telling myself what a tragedy it would be, if by my hesitancy, my friend's salvation would be delayed. What if at this moment, God wanted to use me to spread His gospel, yet I failed to respond to the call? How greedy of a person would I be if I have experienced all the goodness of Christ, yet did not share it with the people I care about. If I love them enough to afflict myself with hours of searching for the right gift, then why not use that same investment of time to pray for them and hopefully give the greatest gift they can receive. And with that amazing gift of Christ, comes that life changing healing power of all their needs. This chapter reminds me to be generous and bold in my faith.
Have a faith-filled day!
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