Your Gift to God
I had a teacher in school who taught us that God’s gift to us is our life and our gift to God is what we do with our life. Honestly, most of what she taught in class I do not remember, but I do remember her talking about that.
I think about this a lot; my life and how what I do with my life is my gift to God. This has taken on so many different meanings in the various seasons of life; when I was just a child seeing the world through untainted eyes, when I was in high school figuring things out, through college trying to find my way, meeting my husband, getting married, starting a family, raising a family, living out my vocation, living my faith…there are so many different seasons and circumstances, and so many different ways to live life. But it’s always in the back of my mind, “What you do with your life is your gift to God.”
As seasons have come and gone, some filled with joy, good news, and ease, and others filled with sorrow, pain, grief, and wounds, this has taken on a new meaning for me. It is easy to be consumed by life without being intentional about how I’m living it. And I realize that life can easily become an endless stream of activity and busyness if I don’t take the time to be intentional each day and in each season of life that is given to me. And I don’t want that. I don’t want my life to be an endless stream of busyness.
So how does one take the joys and the sorrows and all the necessary daily activities and turn them into a gift for God? How does one be intentional about daily living?
The answer to that question, for me, has been to choose daily to think about doing something beautiful for God regardless of the season, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of the joys or the sorrows I may be facing. I want it to be a gift. And I don’t want it to simply be a string of busyness that I look back on and wonder where the time went and why in the world I wasted it. I want to make it a beautiful gift for God, an intentional gift, whether it is wrapped in laughter or whether it is wrapped in tears, and whether or not the circumstances are ideal.
Taking that a step further, sometimes that means I have to reflect on what exactly is filling my days and ask myself if there are things that need to be removed from my usual routine or if there are things that need to be added. Taking time each day to reflect on what filled the moments of the day, and how that either gave glory to God or it didn’t, and then thinking ahead to the next day and what I want that to look like can be a helpful way to live life intentionally and with meaning, even in the ordinary moments and especially when life is very full.
God’s gift to you is your life. Your gift to God is what you do with your life.
What are big and little ways I can do something beautiful for God each day?
How can I be more intentional about living daily life?
Do I take time each day to reflect on the parts of my day that gave glory to God, and the parts that did not?
Are there things in my days that need to be removed?
Are there things in my days that are unnecessary distractions?
Are there things in my days that need to be added?
Are there things in my days that distract me from my friendship with God?
How can I be more intentional about friendship with God?
How can I be more intentional about living my life as a gift for God?