Three friends and I huddled around a small outdoor table on a beautiful, crisp spring day. It felt like a small miracle that our busy schedules aligned on a Tuesday afternoon.
When our food came, we all oohed and ahhed over what each person got, as girls do. The fluffy homemade sandwich bread, the creamy cilantro lime dressing, the special-order chicken salad — everything looked so good. Especially my friend’s iced coffee. When I asked what kind it was, and she said an almond milk latte with cinnamon, my eyes lit up.
“That’s my favorite!” I exclaimed excitedly. “I actually thought about ordering one.”
“Do you want some of mine?” my friend asked.
“No, that’s okay,” I said, not wanting to impose. “Plus, I only drink decaf. But thanks.”
“Oh, it’s decaf! Here, let’s get an extra cup and I’ll pour you some.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, worried she was offering out of obligation.
“Of course,” my friend said. “Sharing is my favorite!”
I thoroughly enjoyed my iced almond milk cinnamon latte and salad that day. I loved the fresh air and sunshine. It was a true gift to have a leisurely lunch with girlfriends I treasure — friends with history and with whom both depth and laughter are easily accessed. It was a great day.
But weeks later, what really stuck with me was my friend’s genuine, joy-filled declaration: Sharing is my favorite.
Have you ever heard anything more wholesome or kind?
And here’s the best part: she meant it and she lives it!
Half a latte wasn’t a one-time act of generosity. It’s her way of showing up in the world and loving people. This friend of mine let me shop her closet before going on a trip, has fed my family too many times to count, buys thoughtful gifts, loans linens when I have people come to visit, let my very stinky teenage sons come over to shower when our power and hot water was out, and even gives me things from her home that I admire. Once, I swooned so much over a teeny tiny ceramic pitcher with the sweetest birdie on it that she immediately washed it and gave it to me — with joy!
Yes, she is a unicorn, and yes, I hope everyone is so lucky to have a friend like her.
But the greatest gift isn’t just a cute sundress to wear on vacation or benefiting from her culinary skills. The greatest gift is that I see and experience the love of Jesus.
My friend beautifully demonstrates how we were all meant to live: Christ-centered and others-focused. It’s the way of Jesus.
Paul writes, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had” (Philippians 2:3-5 NLT). (Read this whole chapter in The Message version — I know you’ll be blessed!)
So, how do we have the same attitude as Christ? How do we cultivate a heart of joyful generosity like Jesus?
View everything you have as God’s. People who are radically generous (regardless of how much they have) understand that God is the owner and they are merely faithful stewards. When we shift our perspective from ownership to stewardship, our grip on resources loosens and joy increases.
Trust God with your plenty and your want. The widow in Mark 12 gave her two coins — everything she had — because she trusted God. Jesus pointed out her courageous obedience as an example of greater generosity and surrender than those who gave more.
Don’t wait to be generous. Don’t wait till your bank account is comfortable or your ducks are in a row. Don’t wait until loving feels easy. Give from what God has already entrusted to you.
Pay attention. Look up. See the people around you. Listen to the needs and desires of others. Ask God to make you a conduit of His kindness and generosity, right where you are.
Be the friend (or neighbor, spouse, coworker) you long to have. Maybe you long for a friend like mine. Maybe you’ve never been on the receiving end of joyful generosity. Be the friend you long to have. “Love your neighbor as yourself” is the second greatest command in the Bible — and for good reason! Think about how you want to be loved, then go do that for someone else.
Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35 NLT). I think this reality is why sharing is my friend’s favorite thing. She knows that giving is a soul blessing for her as much as it is for others.
Do you see that latte, those earrings, your couch, or your time as the Lord’s? Everything you have is a good and perfect gift from God. Ask Him who He wants to bless through you today. And when the opportunity comes? Respond with joyful generosity.
Imagine how the world would look different, how people would truly know Jesus, if we all made sharing our favorite.
I love this devotional and the sentiment of generosity as being our favorites.
You say, “Give from what God has already entrusted to you.” The Lord has given me dimples but I cannot see them unless I look in the mirror. So, I concluded that He gave them to me so I can share them with others through a smile. Even if you don’t have dimples, a smile is free and can show someone they are seen. Sometimes that is what they need at the moment: to be seen and not feel invisible.
And what happens when you smile at someone, they “usually” smile back.
Generosity begets generosity. Pass it on as you said!