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our Heavenly Father responds in true love and generously gives us what we need – his Son.
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Read Matthew 7:7-11
Looking down into your child’s eyes and hearing them ask, “Daddy, can I have a candy bar?” is heart-melting. But then, seeing a child enslaved in the horrors of evil and hearing them cry, “Mister, can you take me out of here?” That’s heart-breaking. Anyone moved by love wants to respond in both situations. Giving the first child the candy bar and freeing the second child are responses to a child’s request – both gifts offered in generosity from the overflow of love. Yet, having the perspective of adulthood, true love is not giving the child simply what they want in the moment, but what they truly need in the timing they need it.
Generosity is the response of any loving father’s heart. John 3:16 begins, “For God so loved the world, that he gave...” As the Heavenly Father hears the deepest cries of his children, his heart melts and his heart breaks. His affectionate, compassionate, and adoring love for his children moves him to action. With an eternal perspective, our Heavenly Father responds in true love and generously gives us what we need – his Son.
Now, some people look at the times they’ve offended God or sinned against him and they think what we actually need is judgment. But, look how Jesus responds. It’s as if he says, “What loving father would really give their child a stone when they asked for bread? What loving father would send his one and only Son just to point fingers?” That’s not love. God didn’t give us Jesus for our condemnation (John 3:17). Neither did he give us Jesus to merely be a transaction for the forgiveness of our sins. Christmas reminds us that God generously gives us Jesus because he actually loves us. He passionately desires to rescue us with his generosity and invites us to accept his love by receiving the gift of his Son. When God hears the cry of every soul, he knows what we need and what we need is Jesus.
God’s generosity is demonstrated by offering the gift of Jesus to conquer sin and death on our behalf. In Romans 5:10, Paul says this gift is not just for friends, because Jesus came reconcile his enemies. We often give gifts to our loved ones around the holidays, but think of someone you’ve never been generous toward and offer them something with no expectation of return.
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By Yvonne Biel
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