Giving is the Heart of Christianity
“…For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”
-St. Francis of Assisi
There are many people that help save lives by regularly donating blood and plasma. These are safe procedures, but it still takes courage. Then, there are those who make huge contributions to another’s life. For example, when they donate one of their kidneys or a portion of their lung or liver to one in need. Although these surgeries are more complex, unless something goes wrong, the donors and recipients recover and afterwards lead productive lives.
In my opinion, the evidence of Christianity is giving motivated by love and sacrifice. Christians, as well as non-Christians, perform selfless acts all the time. There have been times when individuals have given their lives protecting or shielding another. These courageous acts usually occur in crisis moments. In 2019, we read about several people who used their body to ward off massacres at schools and churches. These are noble acts of selfless giving.
Suppose someone you loved had a major illness, but it had been determined that he/she would fully recover if all of their blood was removed and replaced by another person’s blood. However, the person who gives up their blood would die. What would your response be? I believe I know my response. This is a hard price to pay, but such a price has been paid.
Human beings have a major sickness called sin. Sin leads to spiritual death. The Almighty Sovereign God made it possible for us to fully recover through Jesus Christ. Jesus’ blood was emptied out on the cross. How it happened that his blood would cover so many is a divine mystery. Songwriter, Lewis E. Jones said it this way, “There is power—power wonder working power in the blood of the Lamb.”
The Almighty Sovereign God through Jesus Christ gives absolute assurance that if we believe, then we have eternal life. Death is only a part of life. It is not the end.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, KJV).
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