On a recent trip to the Texas Gulf Coast I stayed at Mustang Island State Park in our travel trailer. About two years ago we traded our old camper in for a smaller one. The old one had a canister water filter inside the camper under the sink. The new one just uses an inline filter on the hose outside. While cleaning my garage, I found two unopened and unused filter replacements for the canister type filter. So I took them on this trip hoping to give them to someone who could use them.

I walked around the park one afternoon with those two filters in my hand. I knocked on 9 different camper doors. Only five of them answered. I explained that I had some unused filters and asked if they used this kind. The first four did not. The last one to answer was a young dad and I saw four young kids with him. He said he could use them so I gave them to him and said, “God bless you and have a good day!” It felt good to share something useful with someone else.

As I was walking back to my camper, I realized I was wearing a shirt from a fraternal organization that said “Live Generously.”  This was a newer one, so it didn’t have the cross superimposed over the heart like the earlier ones did. I liked the old shirts so much better. The cross explains where my efforts to live generously come from. I don’t try to live generously because a fraternal organization gives me a shirt telling me to do so. I do in response to the tremendous love and generosity of our God, love displayed in sending Jesus to the cross to pay for the sins of the world.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

In Christ I have atonement, reconciliation, forgiveness, life and salvation. And then God gives me “all things” on top of that. How can I keep that to myself?

1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.

God has shown His love and generosity to us. We need to show it to others.