"Behold, from faith thus flow forth love and joy in the Lord, and from love a joyful, willing, and free mind that serves one's neighbor willingly and takes no account of gratitude or ingratitude, of praise or blame, of gain or loss. For a man does not serve that he may put men under obligations. He does not distinguish betwen friends and enemies or anticipate their thankfulness or unthankfulness, but he most freely and most willingly spends himself and all that he has, whether he wastes all on the thankless or whether he gains a reward. As his Father does, distributing all things to all men richly and freely, making 'his sun rise on the evil and on the good' [Matt. 5:45], so also the son does all things and suffers all things with that freely bestowing joy which is his delight when through Christ he sees it in God, the dispenser of such great benefits."
-Martin Luther, "The Freedom of a Christian Man"
In light of God's grace--frivolously and unconditionally given to all--the only appropriate response is to be gracious in our relationships with each another. To be generous toward our friends and our enemies alike, to give without expectation and without engendering debt in others, and to live joyfully assured that there is enough for us all.
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