Pay It Forward
Over the past couple of weeks I kept hearing people mention the movie Pay It Forward. I had seen it after it came out a long time ago, but for whatever reason I just kept thinking about wanting to watch it (which ended up turning into a date with thelongbrake).
Two things I really enjoyed about the movie:
1. The impact of doing good deeds. Often times I feel as though I've been taught to do good, but not to make the deed known to many people. Sort of a humility thing I guess. But why, then, would Jesus tell us that for others to know God and praise him we must let our good deeds "shine before men"? I feel like there's a very real gap between our faith and our deeds (aka, our faith has nothing to validate it without the deeds). We somehow try to show people our faith by our faith rather than an outpouring response through doing good and expressing God's love to others.
2. Change is preceded by facing the imperfection head-on. Numerous times in the movie different characters' lives were transformed, but only after they fully admitted to their addiction or mistakes.
It's like when we helped our neighbor move into her house. She insisted over and over that we let her pay us for helping, but we didn't take any money. This doesn't make sense to a world that sits firmly on an equal reimbursement mentality (I give you X amount and you give me X amount in return). She ended up returning the favor in the form of an incredible lasagna (so for all of you who do not win Josh's photo contest, there is more than one way to get that lasagna).
What happens when we give somebody something with no expectation in return? All of the sudden they are launched into the laws of the Kingdom, where the world's natural laws simply do not amount to anything. Love is the currency, where one transaction mysteriously brings value to both the giver and the receiver.
Over the past couple of weeks I kept hearing people mention the movie Pay It Forward. I had seen it after it came out a long time ago, but for whatever reason I just kept thinking about wanting to watch it (which ended up turning into a date with thelongbrake).
Two things I really enjoyed about the movie:
1. The impact of doing good deeds. Often times I feel as though I've been taught to do good, but not to make the deed known to many people. Sort of a humility thing I guess. But why, then, would Jesus tell us that for others to know God and praise him we must let our good deeds "shine before men"? I feel like there's a very real gap between our faith and our deeds (aka, our faith has nothing to validate it without the deeds). We somehow try to show people our faith by our faith rather than an outpouring response through doing good and expressing God's love to others.
2. Change is preceded by facing the imperfection head-on. Numerous times in the movie different characters' lives were transformed, but only after they fully admitted to their addiction or mistakes.
It's like when we helped our neighbor move into her house. She insisted over and over that we let her pay us for helping, but we didn't take any money. This doesn't make sense to a world that sits firmly on an equal reimbursement mentality (I give you X amount and you give me X amount in return). She ended up returning the favor in the form of an incredible lasagna (so for all of you who do not win Josh's photo contest, there is more than one way to get that lasagna).
What happens when we give somebody something with no expectation in return? All of the sudden they are launched into the laws of the Kingdom, where the world's natural laws simply do not amount to anything. Love is the currency, where one transaction mysteriously brings value to both the giver and the receiver.
posted by bencooper at 4:03 PM
2 Comments:
i've gained a bit of wait.
what's that mean?
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