Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. Luke 6:38
I have always loved the word picture this verse creates in my mind. For some reason, I envision an overflowing box of cereal being dumped into my lap and me laughing like a little child. At first blush, it seems this verse is all about God’s overwhelming goodness toward us and our giving spirit that comes from him.
But I was surprised to see the context of this verse when it was part of the readings for a Sunday recently. Here is Luke 6:38 again with the end of Luke 6:37 (in italics) preceding it:
Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.
How does the inclusion of verse 37 change the meaning of verse 38 for you? For me, it shifts the focus of verse 38 to a discussion of the effects of showing mercy. It is no longer about just good gifts of any kind. It is a verse about forgiveness being a very precious gift and a gift that “keeps on giving,” as they say. Being generous with our forgiveness has long-term abundant and very personal blessings for us.
Notice, too, how even the words are so similar from one verse to the next: forgive and give; forgiven and given. We give something of ourselves when we forgive. And we are given something from our Lord himself when we are forgiven. Forgiveness is something that brings us very close to one another and very close to Jesus. And it is these close relationships that fill us to overflowing in love and harmony and happiness—happiness like that of a little laughing child.
