The Daily CHEW™
Moving God’s Love from Head to Heart for Christian Professionals
The move is complete. I downsized my office this week, and because the new space does not need a waiting room, a second office, or a food area tucked into a storage closet, I had furniture, books, and supplies to give away — some of it seven years old, all of it in great working order.
What I did not expect was how much pleasure came from watching friends and friends of friends delight in what was being given away. One person lit up over a bookshelf. Another could not believe a desk was free. I had planned to send most of it to the dump, but seeing people I love want it, prize it, and get excited by it made me want to give away more.
It hit me: this kind of generosity felt different. My family tithes. We support causes. The autopay runs faithfully every month, and that is good stewardship. But this was more personal — face to face, hand to hand, watching someone’s expression change when they realized the gift was real. It reminded me of buying food for homeless people when I lived in Manhattan — just between God, the person, and me. No platform. No receipt. Just gratifying in a way that surprised me every time.
And then I asked myself a question I was not ready for: Why am I not more intentional about this? Why don’t I find ways to make giving more personal more often?
I thought about the times others have been personally generous with me — just two weeks ago, my coach introduced me to someone who donated their time to help me build a marketing email strategy I cannot wait to implement. I saw their delight as they gave. I recognized the same look on my own face this week as friends carried furniture out the door.
Saturday’s anchor — Living and Leading from a Loved Heart — taught the practice of Receive Before You Lead. Here is what I am learning: when I receive God’s love personally — not just theologically — it overflows into a generosity that is personal too. The autopay is faithful. But the face-to-face handoff is where God’s love moves from head to heart and into someone else’s living room.
I am someone who likes minimalism, so it is not like there is a mountain of stuff to give. But I am making it a point: regularly generous, even in small ways, personal enough to see the delight.
Clarity
Where has my generosity become automatic and impersonal — and what would it look like to make one act of giving this week face-to-face and personal?
Hear
“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7, ESV). God does not just love the gift — He loves the cheerfulness. Scripture reveals that the delight you feel when giving personally is not a bonus — it is the design. God reshapes your generosity from obligation to overflow as His love moves from head to heart.
Exchange
If I really believed God’s love is so generous that it designed giving to be one of the most pleasurable experiences a Believer can have, how would that change the way I structure my generosity this month?
Walk (30–90 seconds)
Name one thing you own — a book, a piece of furniture, a tool, a skill, an hour of your time — that someone in your life would prize. Before the week ends, give it away personally. Not through an app. Not through a donation bin. Hand to hand. Watch their face. Receive the delight God built into generosity. If this is the only thing I do from this CHEW today, it is enough.
With you on the journey,
Ryan
If you had to put this into one sentence for today, what would you say God is inviting you to rest in or return to?
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