Miroslav Volf: Don’t just give gifts, be the gift!

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Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. 2 Corinthians 9:15

“The best we can give to each other may be neither a thing (like a diamond ring) nor an act (like an embrace), but our own generosity. With that “indescribable gift” called Christ, God gave us a generous self and a community founded on generosity. Such a self bestows gifts freely. It gives because it delights in the beloved and can’t endure the need of the needy. In giving, it subverts hierarchies and transforms rivalries into mutual exaltations. And in all of this, it forges lasting bonds of reciprocal love. At the most basic level, generosity itself is exchanged in all our gift exchanges: My generosity is reciprocated by your generosity, and the circle of mutual love keeps turning. How should we give? By letting our generosities dance together.”

Miroslav Volf in Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005) 87.