Drawing In, Pouring Out

Matthew 16:24-28

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. (Matthew 16:25)

ONE OF THE MOST COLORFUL characters in literature is Ebenezer Scrooge, a miser whose epiphany—aided by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future—changed his outlook on life and his behavior toward everyone around him. Scrooge had not always been so stern and cold, as readers discover in his vision of Christmas past. He suffered wounds as a young man that hardened his heart and turned him inward as a stingy moneylender. But after his experience one Christmas Eve, he would never be so stern and cold again. In one night, he learned something most of us take a lifetime to understand.

All human beings, including you, are on a desperate search for fulfillment. Our instinct is to seek fulfillment by building ourselves up and gathering into our hearts as much pleasure, experience, people, and things as we can. It’s a fatal instinct, one that will only end in frustration and emptiness—perhaps like that of Scrooge, though we hope not in such extremes. The antidote to this instinct is turning outward, focusing on the needs of others. We seek their fulfillment instead of our own, with discernment and full awareness of who we are as God’s beloved children. Luke 6:38 tells us that whatever we give out, we receive back in greater abundance.

This shift from taking in to giving out not only opens the way to your own fulfillment. It also profoundly changes your relationship with those around you and increases your influence in their lives—not for the sake of your own agenda but in representing the compassion and generosity of the Father. Hanging on to your life leaves them and you empty; giving up your life pours into them and lets your heart be filled. The dynamic is a paradox; the fruit is the growth of God’s Kingdom in this world. And the opportunity, once you learn to walk in it, is hard to resist.

{Jesus, you poured yourself out for me because of the joy set before you. I pour myself out for you and others for the same reason. Fill my heart with the pleasure of seeing others fulfilled. Let my life overflow with the abundance of your love. Amen.