There is one compliment that I look forward to each week and I generally receive it each Sunday at church. A congregant and friend will come in, get his coffee, and say, “That’s goood coffee young man.”

I don’t know why, but this validation always means so much to me. It is like a secret talent I possess and I have never heard anyone complain about the coffee I make.

This validation isn’t like my typical work validation riddled with numbers and codes or something that someone tells me to get something in return. It is someone who genuinely appreciates something that I offer and do well.

I wish I could provide you with the formula for making good coffee or really any beverage for that matter (e,g, sweet tea, Kool-Aid, etc.). I know if I could provide a formula, then you too could get this simple admiration but alas, my own advice is this-

Don’t count.

By this I mean, I do not count my scoops of coffee. Nor, do I count how much sugar I put into a beverage. I know that coffee should be bitter and I know Kool-Aid should be sweet. Therefore, I add till it feels right and that generally adds to make the best beverages.

A few weeks ago, following church as I drove home after preaching, I thought about that weekly affirmation. And then I thought about the advice I would give to a fellow church member who wonders how I make the coffee the way that I do.

“Don’t count.”

It repeated in my head, over and over. Then I thought to myself, what other things are better when you don’t count?

Maybe not recipes, but definitely things such as love, or 2nd, 3rd, and 4th chances. Maybe, we shouldn’t count how many chances we give people and just forgive them (Ephesians 4:31-32)? I can think to numerous people immediately that I could, from a human perspective, have every right to hate, but it does me no good to count the things wrong they do (Colossians 3:13). Lord, I pray they do not hold my flaw against me.

So as The Church, let us start considering the things Christians shouldn’t count (Psalm 103:2). Don’t count Truth, just lay it on and spread it like a farmer with seed. Slather on love and dispense grace (Romans 13:8). Stop counting how much forgiveness you can give and- live.

Don’t count.