Sharing is Caring

            I have worked with children at many different times in my life, and it always leads to some memorable experiences. One group of children I worked with had trouble with sharing. A child would call me over and say, “He took my [item] and won’t give it back!”
            Then I would turn to the other child, “Did you take her [item]?”
            He would respond, “She gave it to me!”
            This happened many times with many different sets of children until I finally told the children that they could not share anymore! As adults, I see us doing the same thing only with our time instead of our possessions.

I have often committed my time to someone and immediately regretted it. Whether it is a social engagement or a community function, when the time comes, I do not want to be pulled away from whatever I planned to get done that day. I used to find myself in this situation more often than I do now, but I have learned to avoid committing to anything. Fortunately, Jesus had a different solution for these situations when he spoke to us at the end of Matthew 5.

In this chapter, Jesus first tells us to let our word be true. If we commit to something, we ought to follow through and if we turn something down we should not ask for it later. We should “let [our] ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and ‘no’ be ‘no.’” I do not have as much trouble with this anymore. If I avoid committing to things, then I do not have to break my word at the last minute. However, the chapter does not end after these verses. Jesus goes on to say, “Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” This drives his point home. Not only are we supposed to be faithful when we say “yes” to someone, but we are supposed to say “yes” to them!

As I mentioned before, the thing I struggle most to give away is time. I have so many different things to get done throughout the day that I can become frustrated when someone tries to interrupt me. On the other hand, God tells us that the only things that will last on this earth are faith, hope, and love (1 Corinthians 13:13). At the end of the week, I probably won’t remember all of the chores I got done, but if I choose to go spend time with my grandparents who live up the road from me, they will probably remember that love for a very long time. If I choose to put effort into my friendships, these are impacts that will last. I want to be a person who gives my time and love freely to everyone who surrounds me because when everything is gone, this will be the only thing that matters.