Episode 77 is a re-air with my sweet friend Rachael Adams. She is the host of The Love Offering podcast. In this interview we dive deep into what it really means to love like Jesus and what our individual love offering looks like. God created us all differently with unique giftings Rachael challenges us to use that unique call God has put on your life to show His love to others.
1)Tell us about you and share with everyone about the Love Offering mission and where it was birthed from?
The true inspiration of the love offering actually started about 10 years. I was in a transitional season where I stopped my career to be a stay at home mom. Motherhood gave me a greater sense of purpose than I had ever had before, however there was still this inner longing I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I was questioning my purpose, my significance, my value, my worth. I was questioning do I matter? Why am I here? I was on a search to determine my purpose and fulfill it. I began to notice that serving my husband and children gave me purpose. Serving in my church and my friends gave me purpose. God continued to speak to my heart this recurring theme of service. The more I served others and the Lord my empty heart was filled.
One specific night I woke up with the idea of the service project. I had recently read the happiness project by Gretchen Rubin and while I agree with a lot of what the author had to say I thought that there had to be something more to the equation other than simply making ourselves happy. From a Christian standpoint our happiness is derived from staying connected with the Lord and sharing His love with others. So I began journaling for years on the topics of servanthood and purpose in the Bible.
Fast forward about 10 years later, I was sitting in the church pew on Sunday morning and I looked at the back of the pew and there was a love offering envelope. These envelopes are typically used for monetary giving, over and above your tithe. But on this occasion I got to thinking about how we as Christians are love offerings. We give our lives as love offerings to the Lord and we give our lives as love offerings to the world around us. That we can tangibly go above and beyond for others and for the Lord.
2) God put on your heart, “Rachael, who do you want to feed them, who do you want to hug them, who do you want to give them a home?” You followed by saying it’s not enough to just pray, we have to be active in loving people tangibly. How can you encourage someone in this place. When God does choose them to do the very thing they are asking Him to send someone else to do?
Yes one night my daughter Kate and I were reading a book that she chose from our local church library titled Willie’s Soup Kitchen. In this book there is a baby in a high chair and Kate who was 4 at the time began to question how a child did not have anything to eat because she had no frame of reference for lack of food. This lead to a conversation about hunger and homelessness and orphans/. I told her that it broke my heart to think about a child out there somewhere that has no one to hold them when they cry. Hearing this reality, Kate began to weep as if she was physically hurt, but it was an emotional hurt I had never witnessed from her before. Due to her reaction I was prompted to pray, Lord please give them a home and give them someone to comfort them and give them food. And in the middle of the prayer I clearly felt the Lord speak my heart and say, Rachael who do you want to feed them? Who do you want to clothe them? Who do you want to comfort them? That is why I put you here.
It was this call to action then and it is a call to action now. I am a firm believer in prayer. Prayer does work. God does listen to our prayers and we must communicate with him, however there is a point when He says quit praying about this and act. I have given you everything you need to change this situation. You have the time or the talent or the finances or the capacity to make a difference in this person’s life. So often we just wait for someone else to move or for God to move, when that is why He’s put us here on earth, to be his hands and feet. He uses us to accomplish His purposes. I have to remind myself of this often. We can be the answer to someone else’s prayer.
3) One of my favorite verses in the Bible is 1 Timothy 6:20 - “Guard the deposit entrusted to you.” I felt this when I listened to the episodes. We’ve got to love people with the gifts God has given us. Unfortunately, we live in a world where comparison and the enemy tries to make us look at everyone else’s gifts as better than our own. Was there a time when you felt this way and how did you get to the place of knowing the gifts God gave you were sacred and needed to be shared.
I would love this verse too. It reminds me of the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. God gives us these talents and we can bury them or we can use them and we can invest them for His Kingdom. At the end of my life I want God to say well done good and faithful servant. Not well sad or well thought, but well done.
You know I still doubt the gifts that God has given me. I feel like it’s so much easier to call out and see the gifts in other people than it is to recognize our own. But when we read in the Word, God says that we are all special. We all have a talent. We all have a treasure and time to share. But it is love that makes all of our gifts useful and we can all love.
When I doubt the gifts or wish for the gift He have to someone else, I am doubting God who gave them to me. When we start to compare our gifts to other people we are undermining God‘s workmanship and providence. God gave us these gifts and God does not make mistakes.
I have not overcome this doubt and insecurity in my gifts. I question what I have to offer and I don’t know if this will ever go away altogether. But honestly, I wonder if this is for the best because it keeps me humble and reliant on the Lord. If I could do it on my own or in my own strength or because I have worked so hard, then I would take all the credit and I would get the glory. When the reality is, I can’t do this on my own. Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. That is why I delight in my weakness, for when I am weak, then I am strong. It is only because of Him that we can do or accomplish anything and that way He always gets the glory because he is the only one who deserves any glory.
To answer the second part of your question, how did I get to the place of knowing these gifts needed to be shared, I began to realize I was insecure in my giftings because of my concern or fear of man’s reaction, but the turning point for me was the realization that I feared God more. This fear is more of a reverent fear and a posture of obedience to His call to use the gifts He has given me. Not in an arrogant way, but in a humble responsible way. I got to the point that I can’t not do the things God was calling me to. It was a realization that I didn’t want to waste my life. I want to live this one life well, so that at the end of my time here on earth, He will say well done good and faithful servant.
4) If someone sees the need, knows God is calling them, but they don’t know how to move on it, how would you speak into the life of a woman who comes to you with that? “I know God is calling me to “this” and wants me to use “this” gift, but where do I start”.
Gosh this question really resonates with me. It’s a daily battle isn’t it? The main thing is simply to start. One of my favorite stories in the Bible is in Mark 14 about a woman who anoints Jesus head with perfume. Everyone around her rebukes her and calls her offering a waste, but Jesus says she has done a beautiful thing. She did what she could. Those five simple words. And I believe that is all that He is asking of us as well - to simply do what we can.
If your listeners are anything like me, we tend to get overwhelmed with the enormity of the problems and our lack of time and resources. But what these verses reveal to me is that we don’t need to exhaust ourselves thinking we have to do it all and do it all perfectly. There is such freedom in these verses.
My family has a motto that says “do our best and let God take care of the rest.” We can't get stuck in the opinions of others, our our insecurity in our gifts, or fear of failure. Because if we do we stay stagnant, apathetic, and complacent and end up doing nothing instead. My hope is that through the love offering our generation is inspired to do something to manifest the better world we want to see.
I do want to make it clear that we are not saved by our deeds, we are only saved by faith, however the book of James says faith without deeds is dead. It is our faith that saves us, but it is our active obedience that proves that our faith is genuine.
So for the woman listening wondering where to start, first pray for God to lead you and secondly, start wherever you are. Where does God have you? Love there. And who has He surrounded you with? Love them. From the book of Eshter, who knows? You were there for such a time as this.
5) How do you inspire others to do the things God calls them. I can see we live in a place of we want to share seats at the table but at the same time hate seeing others get ahead of us. One thing I’ve learned is if I’m in step with the Spirit, I’m right where God has me. How do you push people God-ward?
I am directionally challenged in a physical sense, but also very much in a spiritual sense. I can get lost, sidetracked, and detoured so easily. I love the image in the metaphor of staying in step with the spirit, because where He leads I want to follow. I want nothing more than to be in the center of God’s will. However, how easy it is to question if the direction or step we are taking is in the right direction. We wonder if we heard God correctly, but I’m finding God can redirect us if we are on the wrong course, look at Jonah for example. He brought a fish to get back on track!
God can get us back on track if we make a misstep. When we stay in tune with His voice by reading His Word, He will lead us. We need to trust that God will open and shut the right doors. He is the light for our path and Scripture assures us in Isaiah 30:21, whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying this is the way, walk in it.
In regards to saving seats at the table, we do have a tendency to believe there is not enough room for all of us, but the reality is, God just keeps making a bigger table. He is a God of abundance, not scarcity. I want to be the kind of woman who helps others, rather than hinder others in their walk with Christ. And yet I fall short daily. Thank goodness for God’s grace. I can only hope I don’t push anybody in any direction, but rather point them in God‘s direction, so they too can stay in step with His Spirit. We never know whose eyes are on us, and so we would benefit from keeping our eyes fixed on Him. He is our shepherd and He will lead us, guide us and direct us Godward.
6) People are feeling weary, excited, anxious, joy filled. There are so many emotions going on this time of year. How do you feel we can live out the rest of this season with our arms wide open and be the hands and feet of Jesus? How can we be a love offering?
There are so many emotions this time of year. And I think the first step is to recognize that it’s not always joyful for everyone. I know for me and my relationships that even though people may be smiling on the outside, there is always something deeper on the inside that someone may be battling. Whether it’s a physical, emotional, or spiritual need. We all have need. We all need love. We can be a love offering by first allowing Christ to fill us with His love, because without the love of Christ we don’t truly have anything valuable to give. Then through Him and through the help of the Holy Spirit we are able to notice others. We can pray to be sensitive to His leading and to open the eyes of our hearts to see first the need and then act on the need. So many times we worry about having the right words to say or giving the perfect gift, but in reality people just want you to see them and to care about them and their needs. The greatest present you can give this season could simply be your presence.
7) I love when you talked about starting a chain reaction that points people to Jesus. I love the thought of what this looks like. Encounter after encounter. What are some simple things people can be focused on to start this chain reaction?
I also love this image. I believe our small acts of love in God’s hands can make an enormous impact. Throughout the Bible God always used ordinary people and ordinary objects to do extraordinary things. He is a God of multiplication. Although I’m not much of a scientist, when I think of reaction, Newton’s Law of motion comes to mind which states for every action there is an equal or opposite reaction. When I apply this to my Christian life, God’s love should prompt a response of love in me. This concept has proven true in my own life. When someone smiles at me it causes me to want to smile. When someone laughs it makes me want to laugh. When someone gives me a hug it makes me want to hug them back. If someone makes me a meal, I want to make a meal for someone else. It’s this pay it forward concept for Christians.
We also need to be mindful that this chain reaction can go the opposite way. Our harsh words, our judgement, our lack of forgiveness, our lack of mercy, and our inactivity can do as much negative as our positive can do positively.
In order to start a positive chain reaction we must first stay in God‘s word, stay in step with His spirit like we talked about earlier, pray, and be willing to be interrupted. So often, especially during the Christmas season we are busy with all the things. This season let’s make it our goal to slow down enough to notice and be aware of the needs around us. Simply take the time to invite someone to get together, text someone a kind thought, pray for someone, give someone a gift, or surprise them by doing a chore. It’s not as much about what you give but, just that you do give and with the right motive.
8) The Living With Less podcast is all about living with less of the things getting in the way of who Christ is calling us to be. If someone asked you what they needed to begin living with less of in regards to this, what would you tell them and why?
I love the name of your podcast. It brings to mind less of me and more of Christ. That we are dying to our self and living a newness of life with Him. Our natural sinful tendency is to be selfish and focus on our needs and our wants. So in this respect, to live with less would be to live with less of ourselves- to be selfless. God has called us to take up our cross and follow Him. Jesus came as a servant and we are to model our behavior to live like Him.
Isaiah 40 talks about being a servant of the Lord and one of my favorite phrases in the commentary I read about this chapter stated majestic works prompt majestic responses. Because of God’s love we should respond in love to Him and to those around us, so they may respond to God’s love too. That is our purpose. To have a relationship with Him so that we can spend eternity in heaven and to lead others to relationship with Him so they can spend eternity in heaven too.
9) What's been the best thing God has taught you in this season of “The Love Offering” podcast?
Gosh this is a hard question because He is teaching me so much every day and through this podcast I feel so lucky to be able to talk to so many amazing women and get to learn from each of them. So many times we hear a lot of negative news, but there really are a lot of people doing a lot of great things in this world. And that is something to celebrate. Everybody’s life and offerings look different and they’re all at a different pace, in a different place, in a different position, but they are all important to God and kingdom work. We just simply must all do our part.
When I think about the love offering and I think about God as the most extraordinary giver, we give because God gave first. He created us in love. He sent His son Jesus because He loved us. Jesus died on the cross because He loved us. And we are to love because He first loved us. That is our greatest offering.
Where you can find Rachael at her website https://rachaelkadams.com, on Facebook, and Instagram @rachaeladamsauthor.
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