For September 8th:

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20 35

“That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away His life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.” Matthew 20:28

            “This is the way Jesus Himself chose.

            It’s the astonishing truth that while I serve Christ, it is He who serves me. Jesus Christ still lives with a towel around His waist, bent in service to His people…in service to me, as I serve, that I need never serve in my own strength.

            …

            While the Deceiver jockeys to dupe us into thinking otherwise, we who are made in the image of God, being formed into Christ’s likeness, our happiness comes, too, not in having but in handing over. Give your life away in exchange for many lives, give away your blessings to multiply blessings, give away so that many might increase, and do it all for the love of God. I can bless, pour out, be broken and given in our home and the larger world and never fear that there won’t be enough to give. Eucharisteo (thanksgiving) has taught me to trust that there is always enough God. He has no end. He calls us to serve and it is Him whom we serve, but He, very God, kneels down to serve us as we serve. The servant-hearted never serve alone. Spend the whole of your one wild and beautiful life investing in many lives, and God simply will not be outdone. God extravagantly pays back everything we give away and exactly in the currency that is not of this world but the one we yearn for: Joy in Him.”

Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts, 2009