Every Good And Perfect Gift
Posted by Erin | | Posted On Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Five years ago we planted a cherry tree in our yard. We planted
it with love and hope, anticipating the fruit that it would eventually
bear, and thinking occasionally of the ways it might bring joy to our
young family of four: sun-warmed cherries right from the tree, tart
cherry pies tasting of brightness and life, memories of moments spent on
ladder rungs harvesting what had been planted with so many dreams...We
are now a family of six and, although our tree has grown in stature over
the last five years, it has failed to produce any fruit.
This evening, my husband took the kids outside to do some work in the yard while I prepared dinner. As I chopped and stirred and thought, the music of my children's laughter and shrieking provided a lovely accompaniment...until the front door burst open, slamming into the wall, and all four of them stampeded into the house. "Mom! Mom! There are cherries on the tree! We have cherries! Dad's getting the ladder!" The sheer intensity of their excitement sparked my desire to behold the fruit-laden tree, so I followed them outside. "See, Mom? Look, do you see them?" And right there, years from the day that it was planted, stood our tree, bearing clusters of deep-red cherries with a sheen that enticed. They were absolutely beautiful.
Mama that I am, I certainly had to memorialize this special event by dragging out the camera and capturing a few moments: the tree and cherries themselves; the children all together in a group, looking up expectantly as Dad plucks the cherries one-by-one and drops them into a bowl; each individual child, cherry in hand, anticipating that first mouthful. A celebratory feeling enveloped our hearts as we came together in unity to share those first bites of soft sweetness that had been kissed by the sun. We were proud of our tree, and filled with a sense of accomplishment at having endured our wait with a patience that was finally to be rewarded. For me, this cherry tree was a symbol of life, growth, and the passage of time. I felt full.
That feeling of satiety was to be short-lived. The contentment that had flooded my heart only moments before was quickly replaced by sadness. Due to circumstances over which we have had no control, we will be moving out of our home in the very near future. We do not know the location; nor do we know the timing; we do know, however, that this newly fruitful cherry tree is not really ours. In due time it will belong to someone else. An occasion that should have inspired rejoicing was now the cause of bitterness as I pondered the ironic injustice of our circumstances.
I stood there in my kitchen, awash with heavy feelings of despair. And then I began to view that tree in a different light. Instead of thinking of it as our possession, as something that my family deserved, I began to think of the tree as one of the abundant gifts with which God blesses us every day. Oh the numerous and varying ways that He blesses us! No matter the circumstances in which I find myself at any given time, I have always been able to depend on God to bless me with a beautiful sunset, a smile from one of my children, food on my table, music that touches the depths of my soul...His blessings also take the form of certain abilities and character traits. I began to relate the cherries on that tree to the many gifts, talents, and aptitudes with which God endows us. After all, "every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father..." (James 1:17) Every single positive attribute and honed skill that I possess, every pleasing aspect of my personality, they are all gifts from God; I cannot ask for, expect, or receive the glory for any of these blessings; all of the glory and honor must be accorded to God and God alone.
Furthermore, God did not endow us with gifts that we might please ourselves. "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." (1 Peter 4:10) We are not the masters or owners of these abilities, talents, and character traits. We are stewards of these gifts with which God has entrusted us and, as such, we are to use them in ministry and service. This call to service should not merely stimulate us to act, but should also resound in our hearts so that the outcome is ministry that overflows from love. "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
If I am serving in the church with the wrong motivations, then I am not truly serving God, nor am I serving my brothers and sisters in Christ; I am serving myself. I can only really use my gifts to the extent that I am removed from the giving. If my desires, pride, and expectations are entangled in the service I am undertaking, then I have become self-serving and, in the end, I am actually doing myself a disservice. I am not the point. It is not about me. To God be the glory!
"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." (Romans 12:4-5) We belong to one another! If we are living out God's love in selfless sacrifice, serving one another with no thought for ourselves, the body of Christ can truly be a beautiful sight to behold. If I am in intimate relationship with God, I am being prepared to nourish others from the bounty I am receiving on a daily basis. If I am giving to you with no thought of how that particular contribution affects me, I am truly giving. And, in the end, if you belong to me and I belong to you, I will probably be blessed more than I would have had I given selfishly or not given at all. How beautiful is the body of Christ!
Yes, the cherry tree sent me off on a bit of a tangent! But I'm glad that it inspired me to think about the importance of the gifts God gives us, as well as the importance of how we use those gifts...not just that we are using them in service, but that the heart behind our contributions is genuinely loving and selfless. I do believe that, when the time comes, I will give my cherry tree away with joy; it was never my cherry tree to begin with, but was given to me as a gift. I will pray for whoever becomes the new owner and I will love him, her, or them. Likewise, the next time I sing at church, share a verse or some encouragement with a friend, tithe, sign up to help with a church event (and the list goes on), my prayer will be that all of me is stripped away, that there is no remnant left of my desires and my pride, that all that remains is my adoration of God and my love for those to whom I am ministering.
Dear God, my desire is that you, and you alone, would be glorified in my life. I ask you to reach into the deepest corners and recesses of my soul and strip away everything that is not pleasing, everything that is not of you, everything that is my Self. I pray that you would pour your love into my heart, so that it becomes the motivation for every service that I undertake. Impress upon me the knowledge of my ineptitude without you. For, without you, I would have no gifts to offer ; I would be worthless. I thank you for the way that you created me and I give my life to you in service. Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior!
This evening, my husband took the kids outside to do some work in the yard while I prepared dinner. As I chopped and stirred and thought, the music of my children's laughter and shrieking provided a lovely accompaniment...until the front door burst open, slamming into the wall, and all four of them stampeded into the house. "Mom! Mom! There are cherries on the tree! We have cherries! Dad's getting the ladder!" The sheer intensity of their excitement sparked my desire to behold the fruit-laden tree, so I followed them outside. "See, Mom? Look, do you see them?" And right there, years from the day that it was planted, stood our tree, bearing clusters of deep-red cherries with a sheen that enticed. They were absolutely beautiful.
Mama that I am, I certainly had to memorialize this special event by dragging out the camera and capturing a few moments: the tree and cherries themselves; the children all together in a group, looking up expectantly as Dad plucks the cherries one-by-one and drops them into a bowl; each individual child, cherry in hand, anticipating that first mouthful. A celebratory feeling enveloped our hearts as we came together in unity to share those first bites of soft sweetness that had been kissed by the sun. We were proud of our tree, and filled with a sense of accomplishment at having endured our wait with a patience that was finally to be rewarded. For me, this cherry tree was a symbol of life, growth, and the passage of time. I felt full.
That feeling of satiety was to be short-lived. The contentment that had flooded my heart only moments before was quickly replaced by sadness. Due to circumstances over which we have had no control, we will be moving out of our home in the very near future. We do not know the location; nor do we know the timing; we do know, however, that this newly fruitful cherry tree is not really ours. In due time it will belong to someone else. An occasion that should have inspired rejoicing was now the cause of bitterness as I pondered the ironic injustice of our circumstances.
I stood there in my kitchen, awash with heavy feelings of despair. And then I began to view that tree in a different light. Instead of thinking of it as our possession, as something that my family deserved, I began to think of the tree as one of the abundant gifts with which God blesses us every day. Oh the numerous and varying ways that He blesses us! No matter the circumstances in which I find myself at any given time, I have always been able to depend on God to bless me with a beautiful sunset, a smile from one of my children, food on my table, music that touches the depths of my soul...His blessings also take the form of certain abilities and character traits. I began to relate the cherries on that tree to the many gifts, talents, and aptitudes with which God endows us. After all, "every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father..." (James 1:17) Every single positive attribute and honed skill that I possess, every pleasing aspect of my personality, they are all gifts from God; I cannot ask for, expect, or receive the glory for any of these blessings; all of the glory and honor must be accorded to God and God alone.
Furthermore, God did not endow us with gifts that we might please ourselves. "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." (1 Peter 4:10) We are not the masters or owners of these abilities, talents, and character traits. We are stewards of these gifts with which God has entrusted us and, as such, we are to use them in ministry and service. This call to service should not merely stimulate us to act, but should also resound in our hearts so that the outcome is ministry that overflows from love. "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
If I am serving in the church with the wrong motivations, then I am not truly serving God, nor am I serving my brothers and sisters in Christ; I am serving myself. I can only really use my gifts to the extent that I am removed from the giving. If my desires, pride, and expectations are entangled in the service I am undertaking, then I have become self-serving and, in the end, I am actually doing myself a disservice. I am not the point. It is not about me. To God be the glory!
"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." (Romans 12:4-5) We belong to one another! If we are living out God's love in selfless sacrifice, serving one another with no thought for ourselves, the body of Christ can truly be a beautiful sight to behold. If I am in intimate relationship with God, I am being prepared to nourish others from the bounty I am receiving on a daily basis. If I am giving to you with no thought of how that particular contribution affects me, I am truly giving. And, in the end, if you belong to me and I belong to you, I will probably be blessed more than I would have had I given selfishly or not given at all. How beautiful is the body of Christ!
Yes, the cherry tree sent me off on a bit of a tangent! But I'm glad that it inspired me to think about the importance of the gifts God gives us, as well as the importance of how we use those gifts...not just that we are using them in service, but that the heart behind our contributions is genuinely loving and selfless. I do believe that, when the time comes, I will give my cherry tree away with joy; it was never my cherry tree to begin with, but was given to me as a gift. I will pray for whoever becomes the new owner and I will love him, her, or them. Likewise, the next time I sing at church, share a verse or some encouragement with a friend, tithe, sign up to help with a church event (and the list goes on), my prayer will be that all of me is stripped away, that there is no remnant left of my desires and my pride, that all that remains is my adoration of God and my love for those to whom I am ministering.
Dear God, my desire is that you, and you alone, would be glorified in my life. I ask you to reach into the deepest corners and recesses of my soul and strip away everything that is not pleasing, everything that is not of you, everything that is my Self. I pray that you would pour your love into my heart, so that it becomes the motivation for every service that I undertake. Impress upon me the knowledge of my ineptitude without you. For, without you, I would have no gifts to offer ; I would be worthless. I thank you for the way that you created me and I give my life to you in service. Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior!
Loved it! Write more :)
Amen! Thanks :)
Beautiful, Erin! I think this may be the beginning of a book! Thank you for sharing your heart. I love you!