SPIRIT: GivingIt doesn't make mathematical sense. The more we give away, the more we are given.
Let me preface by saying that I'm on my journey. That's why this blog is called "The Way." I'm still growing, learning, becoming. There are times I'm selfish. There are times I envy others and complain about what I'm lacking.
Despite my faults, the principle still works.
We're surrounded by our stuff. For example, we have clothes and clothes and more clothes! How many pairs of jeans do we really need? How many shirts can we wear in a month? We don't need them all, but surely someone else does.
When was the last time I wore that? So we give some of them away. Our house is cleaner, less cluttered, and we've helped someone who needs them. It feels good. We are blessed when we are generous.
Giving money is something that seems a little more tricky for most of us. I will be the first to admit that I think twice about giving money when I'm wondering how to pay for the car repairs or paying a high utility bill. Then we are moved by the Spirit, and we give anyway.
And we are changed in the process.
I believe that everything could be done for all of us magically. We were so penniless when I was in college that we used coins from the couch to put fuel in the car.
God could have stashed $100 between the cushions for us or changed the account balances on our utilities to "PAID." That wasn't what happened, however.
Instead one of my professors saw me on edge, asked me what was wrong, and gave me money from his pocket. His Bible study group then paid some of our utilities.
We thought we were blessed, but those who helped us were, too.
Since our own situation has improved, we have done what we were asked to do: share what we have. The miraculous thing is that even when we gave more than was comfortable, soon after we were given more than we gave from somewhere else. A refund comes in the mail we have forgotten about. My husband gets a new contract for work.
This has been a week full of those gifts and though we plan on buying a new computer, lust after a tropical vacation, and think of what we can spend the new income on, I hope we can give more to others, too.
I wonder what we will be given next.
That was beautiful and moving Elle. It has always been really shocking and moving to me when someone gives, truly gives. Like when your professor and his bible group helped you. I guess it's just shocking because I don't often think of others as willing or wanting to help. I think the world needs more people who are willing to sacrifice a little bit of their gain to others who at the moment are in despair. It's so easy to for any of us to get into the situation of needing some support and aid from others. Beautiful post Elle :)
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that it didn't sound self-righteous. I can be just as selfish as anyone else!
ReplyDeleteThe experience of having my professor give me money was really humbling, which is a good lesson in itself. We used to be too proud to let people give us stuff, but then someone told us that we are robbing the other person the gift of sharing, if that makes sense.