Blog

Filter By:

Owe Your Love

main image

As a young adult, just heading to college, I remember some advice my dad gave me; “Don’t get a credit card. You’ll never get out of it.” I didn’t asked him much about this advice or rather, warning, but I had a feeling he knew a thing or two about this.

I wish I could say I listened. Instead I made plans with new found friends to head to Florida for Spring Break. My tax refund check didn’t come soon enough, so I filled out the easy application that magically appeared in my dorm mailbox and drove off to Florida with a piece of plastic in my pocket worth $3000.

I wish I could say I’ve never had any debt, especially from a high interest credit card, but I have. And at times, I’ve felt like I could drown from the weight of it.

But that really isn’t the worst of it. My relationship with debt was distracting me from the rich relationship I could have been having with my heavenly Father. It was keeping me strapped to a monthly payment I wanted to give away to someone in need. I was kept from loving people the way I wanted to and reflecting the generous love I’ve received from God through his gift of Jesus Christ.

Paul instructs in Romans 13:8 to, “Owe nothing to anyone – except for your obligation to love one another.” And in my pursuit to love others in this life, in the same generous and lavish way God loves me, I fulfill God’s law to love Him and love others.

Being free from owing someone something other than my love for them frees me to love them deeply, to really invest in them and not just with money, but with my time, my attention, with the eternal part of me that will give the opportunity to share the Good News of Christ. If I’m busy paying off debt or worried about matching someone’s generosity, that becomes my focus, that becomes what I think about, that becomes the biggest part of me. It is a trap, a prison, a lonely place that does not align with a free and full life that God has dreamed for me.

Are you caught up in what you owe men? Consider and pray how to be rid of this and be free to spend yourself in the lives of people, loving them out of obligation to the One who showed us what love is.

Posted by Janna Lynas with

The Greatest Gift

main image

DISCLAIMER: WRCC is not responsible for any Christmas gift fails as a result of this post.

Can you picture a child opening a gift they have desperately longed for on Christmas morning?  What is the expression on their face?  What are the feelings they feel?  Quite honestly, this is why some families have restrictions on gift giving (I’m talking to you grandparents!).

To see a child so happy in such a pure state of joy is one of the most beautiful parts of the season.  What if a parent or grandparent purchased luggage instead of a gift off a child’s wish list?  What would the expression on the child’s face be in this instance?  Joy?  Pure elation?  I don’t think so…I would imagine they might be confused and simply move on to the next gift. 

What if I told you that you the most amazing gift you could possibly receive is waiting for you this Christmas?  Imagine what you will sense and feel when you open it and find out what it is.  Are you ready to find out what it is? 

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.”  (Ephesians 2:8) 

What is your reaction to this?  Is this tired news?  Exciting news?  If your reaction is the same as a child opening luggage on Christmas morning, then we need to talk.  Jesus came to save you!  It is a big deal, and it should illicit a response in us like a child who longs for Christmas morning.  No matter what you think you need or want, salvation is the greatest gift you will receive this season.

This is the part where the child learns the luggage is for a spontaneous trip to Disney, and that is how things change quickly.  My prayer is not that we all get to go to Disney this year, but I pray we see God’s gift with the wonder and awe it deserves.  May He infuse our dreary hearts with passion, joy and excitement over the most amazing news we ever get to receive – Jesus came to earth to save us.  Merry Christmas!