The Measure

31 Aug

“The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.”  ~ Vince Lombardi

It always warms my heart when I see a group of people doing things together and sharing everything that they have with one another.  No one appears to mind too terribly much if someone else is holding on to their possessions or even if someone takes some of their things home with them.  They derive more joy out of being together than out of having stuff.  This happens at all sorts of age levels and it is truly something to see.

Of course, we can all state that we have seen the opposite as well.  We have seen people so possessive of all that they have that they do not let anything out of their sight and they will not let anyone else touch what they own.  It will be a cold day in, well, you get the picture.

Lombardi really hits it out of the park when he states, “the measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.”  We have the things that we possess because of God’s abundant love.  He has given us the wherewithal to acquire the things that we have and has also given us the heart to share the things we have.  Nothing that we have should be so special that we cannot let it go for a more noble reason.

Yes, it is nice to have things.  Yes, it is nice to call some things our own.  Yes, it is a reward of sorts to be able to acquire.  But our possessions should not have such a hold over us as to rip us away from one another.  Whenever an object becomes more important than a person, we have lost our way.  Nothing is more important than one another.

That was the crux of the Gospel passage whereby Jesus told a young man that he had one more thing to do to be perfected: to sell all that he owned, give it all to the poor, and then come follow Jesus.  The young man went away sad because his possessions had too much of a hold on him.

If you are going to hold onto something tightly today, make sure that it is the Lord and not any possession.

FAITH ACTION:  Take a moment to appreciate the things with which you have been blessed today and make sure that none of them have a strong hold on you.