Unity Seed – Put Others First: Possessions

Key Verse

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
Acts 4:32 (NIV)

Short Reflection

Possessions. As I look at people and their possessions, a question comes to mind: do people possess possessions, or do possessions possess people?

It appears the more possessions we own, the more our possessions own us. We spend lots of additional money protecting and securing our possessions. We spend lots of our time maintaining and fixing them. Often they take away from our peace rather than contributing to it. We distance ourselves from other people because we don’t need them, and as our possessions grow, we trust other people being around them less or fear they may reduce the amount of possessions we have.

If we find that possessions tend to separate us and create dis-unity, isn’t it all the more amazing that this Acts 4 community actually allowed their possessions to contribute to their unity? What if we did the same in our world today? What if we heard the words of Jesus saying “when I was a stranger, you let me in” and we took steps to welcome the refugee rather than make it near impossible to enter our country out of an irrational fear of losing some of our possessions? I have no doubt but that how we use our possessions will shape whether Jesus sees us as a sheep or a goat.

You CAN possess your possessions – you don’t have to let them possess you! But as is true for so much of the kingdom experience, you will only truly possess your possessions if you put others first and are willing to give them away, and you actually act on that willingness!

Lord, let this reader and I be “All for One”, and may we use our possessions to create unity, not disunity.

This is the fourth in the “Put Others First” series of blog posts.