A More Generous Love

Several years ago I was a student in a Disciple I class.  The teacher of that class taught us several ways to move deeper into a Biblical passage - questions to ask of any passage to seek out the meaning in it.  Those bible study techniques have stuck with me, and I often use them when I teach, to lead the class into the passage.

I was reading Nouwen's book, Here and Now, this morning. The chapter I read was about reading spiritually.  We often read to gain knowledge, but to read spiritually, is to allow God to read us.  He says, "Spiritual reading is reading with an inner attentiveness to the movement of God's Spirit in our outer and inner lives.  With that attentiveness, we will allow God to read us and to explain to us what we are truly about."

It's a different way of reading, isn't it?

Nouwen writes that we should ask the question, "How does God speak to me here and call me to a more generous love?"  I like that as a way to read the Bible.  What is God using in this passage to lead me to a more generous love?  Using that question can allow God to read us - to point out to us where we are not being loving, not being generous.  Through that question, God can open our hearts to feel a more generous love toward someone else.