Self Service

Matthew 6:2-4 "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ³But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

It isn't always easy to do things for others, especially when the use of money is involved. We often strive to please those we love (i.e. our friends and family), yet at the same time, let's be honest, we like a little recognition. You could even say most even like the "thank yous" better than the giving of the gift itself. The fact is, it is sin nature to desire recognition along with everything we think we deserve.

Oppositely, we should always try to give our gratitude and thanks to Jesus. He gave us the greatest gift of all, one we needed but couldn't do ourselves. Leaving His seat in heaven to come to earth, live in a fleshly body and have human experiences (so anyone can relate to Him), and dying for his people. The God and Creator of the Universe did the most selfless and gracious thing possible for the most selfish people ever: us. Pastor Karl Alsin has pointed out in multiple sermons that grace is best defined as an acronym: God's Riches At Christ's Expense.

God's grace covers unconditionally what you or I have done. It doesn't matter what our pasts are like, it doesn't matter what we've said, it doesn't even matter if we rejected Jesus prior in our lives (because everyone who's ever lived has). God chose us, dead in our sins, even though we have fallen short of His glory (Romans 3:9). We don't even have to do anything because thankfully, Jesus already did everything! This is good to know for all because I never would have chosen Him, and truth be told: nobody in the history of the entire earth ever would have either. We are dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:1) and dead people don't chose to be alive, they can't do it. Neither could I.

By grace I have been saved, and not by works, so that I cannot boast, because it was a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). The greatest gift of all didn't come on my birthday or Christmas, but over 2000 years ago on a cross when Jesus died. Because He did this, the Bible, as shown in the red letters above, presses Christians to do the same. Applicably, we should all strive to be a little less "hypocritical" and more like Jesus:  selfless and giving glory to God. I encourage any readers of this to follow in His footsteps and give graciously with what you can. Give your time or energy to someone, tithe what you can, talk to the awkward kid who may smell a little, stick up for what is right even if it makes you uncool, or spend time rebuilding a relationship with an old friend. All these things can be done to the glory of God, so take up the challenge with me to be less self serving and more of a servant to people and above all God.

Family

1 John 1:7

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin."

Family is funny thing. Everyone has one, all of them have their quirks, and mine are great. We had a family reunion dinner at my house today and it's always good to see relatives that live away or don't go out often. More so since I'm moving a thousand miles away in less than a month.

I have more than just one family though; I have a church family too. A church family doesn't quite provide all the necessities of life as parents do - daily meals, school clothes, etc., but they provide instead spiritual help and growth and well as a communion that nobody can get by just church dating (Hopping from church to church in order to "learn more" or change when one is offended among other reasons). Fellowship with the saints of the church is an important part of my faith in the fact that relationships are built to grow up disciples and provide examples of how a man or woman of faith should live.

Matthew 18:20 says "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." The fact that Jesus talks about meeting together in his name - what we call church - on top of the fact that it's in the Bible makes it something we should take note of (also see Hebrews 10:25, Collosians 3:16, 1 Thessalonians 4:18, and Acts 2:42). It is easy to say that one's commitment to their church family could even show their commitment to other relationships in their life.

My family is fantastic. My church family is inspiring. A combination of both have made me the young man I am today, and I thank them for that. They have created the building blocks of my life that will lead me to the man I hope to be in years to come.