"Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."

1 Timothy 6:18-19 (NIV)

Agape love isn't just a feeling you have. It's something you do with what you have. You show love through your hands, your time, and your wallet. When Paul tells Timothy to command people to be rich in good deeds and generous, he's describing what love like this actually looks like in real life. Love gives. Love shares. Love meets needs. Love uses what it has to bless others.

Paul gives specific instructions about how love expresses itself. Do good. Be generous. Be willing to share. This is agape in action. You don't just feel compassion for someone struggling financially, you help them. You don't just think about serving your church, you actually give. You don't just admire generosity, you practice it. Love like this doesn't stay abstract. It opens your wallet, shares your resources, and meets needs sacrificially.

Consider what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:8 about love's enduring nature. "Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away." Love is eternal. When you practice generous love with your resources, you're doing something that has lasting worth. That act of generosity doesn't disappear. It lays up treasure as a firm foundation for the coming age. It matters forever.

This is how you take hold of the life that is truly life. Not by accumulating more for yourself. Not by building security through hoarding. But by being rich in good deeds and generous with what God has given you. When you use your income to meet someone's need, you experience what life is really about. When you share sacrificially because someone is struggling, you taste eternity. This is love with substance. This is love with lasting worth.

How generous are you being with what God has given you? Are you rich in possessions but poor in good deeds? Are you building wealth without building generosity? Are you holding tight to resources when God is showing you needs you could meet? Love like this doesn't grip tightly. Love shares willingly. Love gives joyfully. Love sees needs and responds with open hands.

Godseekers, generosity is how agape becomes visible and real. Don't just talk about love. Show it through good deeds. Don't just feel compassion. Express it through generous giving. Don't just value people. Bless them sacrificially with what you have. Be rich in good deeds. Be willing to share. This is what love like this looks like when it touches your bank account. This creates a firm foundation for the coming age. That's Love's Lasting Worth.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your generous love toward me. You gave everything in Jesus Christ. Forgive me for gripping my resources tightly when You've called me to share willingly. Forgive me for being rich in possessions but poor in good deeds. Teach me to be generous like You. Open my eyes to needs I can meet. Soften my heart so I'm willing to share sacrificially. Help me use what You've given me to show love that has lasting worth. Let generosity mark my life. Make me rich in good deeds. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Personal Reflection

• Am I being rich in good deeds and generous with my resources, or am I holding tightly to what I have?
• Where is God showing me a need I could meet through generous, sacrificial giving?

Step of Faith

Today, I will practice generous love by identifying one specific need I can meet with my resources and taking action to help sacrificially.