³⁸ give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38 ESV)

In the scraping and scrambling of life we can forget that often what we feel is less a byproduct of our striving and more a product of what we measure out. You see, in all things what we measure out comes back to us. If that is kindness and love, then those come back to us. If it is frustration and anger, those too come back to us.

I am not talking about some karma kind of thing. I am talking about the scriptural fact that we reap what we sow. If the majority of our sowing is bitterness, how can we hope to reap joy or happiness? Even the chemistry of our brains is such that there is a built in balance based on what and how we do things and how we feel.

Thus, if we put out a good measure, then it will be given back to us. Wouldn’t that this measure be of good things and not bitterness or anger. Let me challenge you with this question – what has bitterness or anger ever brought you? What good has negative emotion brought to your life?

It is not that we will not feel bitterness or anger, but it is what we do with it that matters. Repaying negative with positive has a beneficial effect on our lives. The opposite is never true.