blog-tember 21 // quote me

I am linking back up with Blog-tember to share one of my favorite quotes today, compliments of Amy Carmichael . . . 

Amy Carmichael was a giver in the hands of the Ultimate Giver. She served as a Christian missionary in India for 55 years without furlough  until her death in 1951. She started a ministry (Dohnavur Fellowship) that was a refuge for young girls and boys from prostitution, slavery, and illness. Her influence left a mark on the community and her love (which was shown through her words as well as actions) pointed many to Jesus.  Amy wrote many books during her life as a missionary, including my favorites If and Mimosa. I recommend her biography written my Elisabeth Elliot, A Chance To Die:  The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael.  If anyone could be called a a "giver", it is she. While in India, Amy gave her time, her resources, and her love to everyone she came in contact with. Her love for God translated into being a giver since He is the Ultimate Giver and she was growing to be more and more like Him daily. She loved and she gave.

I desire that. To be a giver in the hands of the Ultimate Giver, daily learning to give more and more. Not out of obligation or legalism, but out of a heart full of gratitude for what I have been given through Jesus Christ. I want my giving to be a result of what He has done in my life. Whether my time, my resources, my finances, or anything else that God is tugging at my heart, I want to be ready to love through the act of giving. Because, really, how could I say I loved and neglected to give somehow, whether to my fiancé, my family, my friends, or anyone else that God brings into my life? 

Love is not selfish or self-seeking (1 Corinthians 13:4). Love gives and gives and gives.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave . . .  " (John 3:16).  God is the Ultimate Giver because He gave His Son Jesus to die for our sin and to make a way for us to be adopted as His children. Jesus, fully God and fully man, gave His life for us. 

This quote reminds me to praise God for being the most amazing Giver of all, and then asking Him to help me develop habits of giving, in whatever way He leads me.