Hebrews 13:5

“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13:5‬ ‭ESV‬‬
At the start of this passage, the writer of Hebrews starts off with by saying Hebrews‬ ‭13:1-2‬ ‭ESV‬‬ “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”‭ How often do we see people throughout our day and just turn away, saying things like “oh they aren’t my problem,” or “I don't even know that person,” or “well this is mine and I don't feel like giving it away.” Along with the countless other excuses that we could make for not wanting to help people, how selfish do all these statements sound? Then ask yourself how many times you've said statement like these to yourself in your life? I know for me the excuses are most definitely in the thousands. So that means that there has been thousands of times in my life where I could've been helpful to someone and/or been used by God to make a difference in a person’s life and I choose not to. All the chances that I could've been an example of brotherly, Christ-like love and never was. Now if that still isn't convicting you think of all the people that I saw that weren't actually people but rather angels, moments in my life where God was truly testing my character and just like all the other thousands of times that I failed him I most likely failed God when he sent his angels as well. So why is it that I continued to fail him and still continue to fail him constantly throughout my days? Because I am lacking in that brotherly, Christ-like love. I either fail to realize the needs of people because I am to worried about my own or I just choose to ignore them because I feel as though my needs are more important. How ignorant and horrifically selfish I am. Whenever these times come around I'm always so focused on the gift and what I am actually giving that I fail to see how the gift will actually affect the person that I am giving it to. I'm so focused on the temporary material thing that I fail to see emotional, mental, and spiritual impact that my giving could have on the person I am giving to. I'm finding my joy in what I have and that it's mine instead of realizing that God has provided me with everything I have and that he's provided me a way to make an impact in people's lives with the things that he's given me. It's not like he's telling us to give things that has hasn't already given us. He knows what we have and he's telling us I've put you here for a reason. He knows when and what we are giving so it shouldn't bother me when he asks me to give. If I could realize that what I'm giving away isn't my property but rather the property of God how much more fulfilling would it be for me to give to others? Since he provides us with everything we have we are literally giving people gifts from God. And on top of everything that he's provided us he's already given us the greatest gift of all in the sending of his son, and that alone should make us so gracious in being able to give to others. Romans 6:23 ESV “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” For my application I'm going to write Hebrews 13 on my finger so that hopefully the next time I have an opportunity to give to someone, I will remember this lesson and be willing to give with contentment. Because I will know that God has put this person in my life so that I could give them whatever it is that they need.

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