Giving Back to Our Gracious God
By David Faust
When I was a teenager, I heard someone say, “What you are is God’s gift to you. What you make of yourself is your gift to God.” I wrote that quote on a piece of paper, stuck it in my wallet, and carried it around with me for years.
Life is a gift. David said his body was “fearfully and wonderfully made”—knit together in his mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13-16). In light of modern science, this is a striking illustration because DNA filaments are literally woven together in a spiral shape. Life isn’t an accident of evolution. It’s a profound mystery designed and engineered by the living God. Every human life bears the stamp of God’s image and holds immeasurable value.
That’s why it’s stunning when Jesus talks about laying life down. Since life is God’s gift, why would anyone choose to give it up? Jesus said he “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). In this verse, the Greek word translated “life” is psyche, which means soul, identity, or personality. At the cross Jesus sacrificed himself physiologically and psychologically—body and spirit—to rescue us from sin.
God’s salvation plan begins and ends with grace.
- He graciously gave us life when he created us.
- We forfeited the gift of life by rebelling against him.
- Through Christ’s death and resurrection, God made a way to restore us to life again.
- His grace motivates us to serve him in love.
How Are You Spending Your Life?
We all lay down our lives for one thing or another. Either we intentionally invest time, money, and effort on things we consider important, or we drift along with the tide. It’s sad when lives are consumed by self-indulgence, like the prodigal son who “squandered his wealth in wild living” (Luke 15:13). It’s equally sad when career successes, material possessions, or religious accomplishments lead to unhealthy pride and self-righteousness. Remember the prodigal’s angry brother? He complained bitterly that his hard work wasn’t properly recognized and rewarded (Luke 15:29). Unable to appreciate his father’s grace, he served out of grudging obedience rather than love.
Ironically, we don’t find personal fulfillment by making personal fulfillment our primary goal. Jesus pointed out the paradox: Life isn’t meant to be spent on ourselves, but to be invested in Christ and the gospel (Mark 8:35), prioritizing God’s kingdom above our own self-interests.
At 50 years old, the founder of the Navigators ministry, Dawson Trotman, was at a camp in upstate New York. One afternoon he was riding in a boat with campers on board when they hit some choppy water. Dawson and a female camper fell off the boat. To keep the girl from drowning, Dawson held her above the water and lifted her to safety, but he drowned in the process. At the funeral, Billy Graham described this act of heroism by saying Dawson “died the same way he lived—holding others up.”
Jim Elliot died as a missionary martyr, but he insisted, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” In the hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” the songwriter Isaac Watts summed it up well: “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all!”
Personal Challenge: Read Romans 12:1-2. Make a commitment (or renew your commitment) to view your life as a living sacrifice to God. In prayer, offer your body and spirit to the Lord as an act of worship and consecration.
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