Love God Greatly: BeatitudesSample

As recipients of grace, we should be people who give grace in response. It's easy to love people who love you, to do nice things for people who you know will return the favor, and to lend your resources, money, or time to people who will repay you. It is much harder to give the way God gave to us: with full knowledge of our inability to repay Him. 

We often treat our relationships as transactions. I give a little, I get a little. When I am kind, I expect kindness in return. It's like a business deal, and we want to make a good investment. But we know something is wrong when our logic in dealing with people looks the same as the world. Even people who have not received God's grace treat other people like gumball machines: put in the right change, and you'll get what you bargained for. Our mindset and logic should be radically different: giving of ourselves freely and generously is not foolish but representative of the grace we've been given. 

God, thank You for giving me what I could never repay. Give me opportunities to show that kind of love to the people in my life.