Today with Henri Nouwen: HOW CAN WE DEVELOP AND NURTURE GIVING HEARTS? The word community has many connotations, some positive, some negative. Community can make us think of a safe togetherness, shared meals, common goals, and joyful celebrations. It also can call forth images of sectarian exclusivity, in-group language, self-satisfied isolation, and romantic naiveté. However, community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for ourselves but for one another. Community is the fruit of our capacity to make the interests of others more important than our own (see Philippians 2:4). The question, therefore, is not How can we make community? but How can we develop and nurture giving hearts? PRAYER You are the source of real community Lord God: Father, Son and Spirit. Help me to have a giving heart like yours. In the sweet name of the Lord Jesus...Amen. If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others. - Philippians 2: 1-5 (NIV)
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 21:08:59 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015