The Loop

It took a while, but the best part of the year is finally upon us – fall!

I’ve always had a personal love for fall. Maybe it’s the changing of the leaves. Maybe it’s the comfy clothes. Maybe it’s the delicious food that comes with the season. I also think it’s due to the season of the holidays that we are inching up to. There’s something about the way people treat each other in November and December that tends to seem more wholesome than every other time of year. We’re more caring, more giving, more loving, and seem to give a little more grace and patience.

It seems to be one of those times where we, as humanity, come together to offer the hope of what it means to treat each other the way that God wants us to – with love and respect.

With our kStudents, right now we are going through a series on forgiveness. How do we say we’re sorry and mean it, and how do we actually accept apologies? One of the stories we looked at was the story of Zacchaeus. What I love about his story is that he was a man who, while extremely hated, understood what it meant to change and give back to those he’d wronged. Zacchaeus, in Luke 19, shares that he will not only give back what he’s wrongly taken but four times as much to each person! I’m not great at math, but I know that’s a lot. Zaccheaus’s story is one about an interaction between Jesus and a changed man that encapsulates what this season of thanksgiving and giving back is about.

We’re really good at it during these two months of the year, but what about the other ten? How do we live a life that gives thanks and gives back to others on a regular basis? How do we live like Zacchaeus did when he encountered Jesus?

I think it starts with understanding that we give thanks and give back because it’s what Jesus did for us. We would be nothing if it wasn’t for His work on the cross to bring us back to right relationship with God. He did it solely out of His unending love for us and He invites us to do the same. Most likely that doesn’t mean dying a gruesome death, but it does mean giving up ourselves for others daily. It means living a life that is a little more caring, more giving, more loving, and more full of grace and patience each and every day, not just around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

So, that spirit that starts to fill your heart and life as the joy of the holidays rolls around? Ask God to keep that going even after the new year starts. Let it become an active part of your life!

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