Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The Blessings of Giving


This past Resurrection Sunday, my sister and I baked cookies for the tenants in our building. We thought it would be a great way to meet our neighbors and do something special for the holiday. My sister made sugar and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. She cut out purple squares of construction paper and wrote Happy Easter on them. We wrapped them in sulifane and tied purple ribbon around them. We said a pray asking the Lord to go before us and open the hearts of our neighbors to receive the cookies and that it would bring Him glory.

We went door to door knocking and heading out the cookies. Everyone had big smiles on their faces and were so grateful for the cookies. They said, "You guys are so nice" and "We have such great neighbors." We even handed out cookies to owners of the deli beneath our apartment building. The owner's son was so shocked and happy. He had the biggest smile on his face and kept thanking us. It really filled our hearts with gladness and that Jesus was being glorified. God loves to see His people do his will and doing it with cheerfulness and gladness. In Hebrews 13:2 it reads 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. We should always keep this is mind because God can use strangers to help us in our time of need. Getting to know people in your neighborhood is a great way to have support and unity when there are times of crisis. People will always remember when you show them kindness.

I encourage you to pray and ask the Lord what is it that He would want for you to do in your neighborhood. It could be baking cookies, praying with a neighbor, inviting them over for dinner or just saying hello. Small acts of kindness go a long way. It plants a seed and that seed will grow into something beautiful. Giving of yourself to others also brings glory to the Kingdom.

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