Near the end of her book The Broken Way, author Ann Voskamp leaves her readers with a challenging thought in just two words: live given.[1] She encourages us to change our attitude toward the circumstances in life that make demands on us. Most of us have a rough idea what we think we’re going to do each day. But often when needs and interruptions crop up unexpectedly during our day, we grow resentful. We tend to feel that others are “taking” from us. Yes, we tend to “live taken” instead of “given.”

What about when your son calls you from school and asks you to bring the report to class that he forgot to take with him—and it’s due today? Or a sick neighbor needs groceries from the store—will you fit it into your schedule to run the errand for her on your way home from work today? Or what about that phone call you need to make to the person in your church family who just lost her husband? Can you live given today?

But what if every day we did live given? We’d be living like Jesus lived. His whole life was given for others. He used His healing power to take away the suffering of those who came to Him for help. He offered forgiveness to those overcome by sin. Even in His death, He freely gave of Himself. He said, “I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself” (John 10:17, 18 NKJV). Yes, He freely gave Himself for others.

“Live given.” If that is how we lived every day, we’d find resentment and hard feelings fading away. It’s a challenging thought.

[1] Ann Voskamp, The Broken Way (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), 215.

Is there someone in your life you need to “live given” for?