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I think a lot of us, whether we grew up with hand-me-downs or the very best of everything, carry around an old message of not enough to some degree, in some variation.
But when we pay attention to the many blessings God has so graciously and generously poured out everywhere we look, when we feel grateful for all those blessings, when we realize that God really does love us – then those worries and fears go away and a new sentence comes to mind: “We have enough that we can share, and someone else will have plenty, too!”
Didn’t Jesus keep talking about love? Jesus kept telling and showing his disciples (us!) that there’s not only enough of that to go around, there’s so much that we can share it with all our neighbors and families and friends and even strangers, and then they’ll have plenty to share, too! Can it be true?
Yes. We can trust Jesus’ words and example. Perfect love – Christ’s love – casts out fear (1 John 4:18b), so we don’t have to worry. We don’t have to be afraid. There really is enough to go around, and more. Jesus wouldn’t have it any other way.
This message is excerpted from “Plenty to share” by Audrey Novak Riley from the February 1, 2017, blog of the Women of the ELCA.