You Can Only Keep What You Give Away

As young Christian leaders, Bruce and Lenore Mitchell took God, life, their marriage, and faith seriously. But then something strange happened. Bruce began to feel they should give their possessions away. Furniture. Appliances. Even wedding gifts. Everything.After a few days, he cautiously shared his feelings with Lenore, only to discover she felt the same thing. She had been struggling with how to tell him! Confident that God was directing them, they began giving things away.Within a few days, everything was gone. Bruce recalls, “Even the original painting my grandmother had painted—a family heirloom—was given away.” Although somewhat perplexed as they slept on the floor amidst nothing, they felt peace and assurance that they had done the right thing.A few weeks later, as they drove home one afternoon, they saw smoke rising from the landscape. As they got closer to their neighborhood, they could see the smoke was billowing up from their property. They watched their house burn to the ground.Soon thereafter, one evening after the Mitchells had settled into temporary housing, car lights appeared in their driveway. Then, a couple walked to their front door carrying the gift which the Mitchells had given them a few weeks earlier.During the following days, a stream of cars came to their home, returning the items they had given away.Forty years later, Bruce told me, “We learned you can only keep what you give away. Today, we once again treasure my grandmother’s painting. But it only hangs in our home now because we gave it away.”Have you noticed we all spend much of life’s energy acquiring and storing? But Jesus pointed to a higher way. “... If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it..”[1] [1] Luke 17:33 taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW LIVING TRANSLATION, Copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Used by permission.The Timberline Letter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to The Timberline Letter at timberlineletter.substack.com/subscribe This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit timberlineletter.substack.com/subscribe