Giving

Paul said in 2 Corinthians, “I want you to excel in the gracious ministry of giving.” He could have said he wanted you to excel in business, excel in education, excel in performance – that’s all good. But he said what he wanted you to be really great at, what he wanted you to excel in, is giving.

I used to be a selfish person. I acted as though the world revolved around me and for the most part it looked to be true. But then I went through a long season of loss and struggle. People seemed to come out of the woodwork to use me, lie to me, cheat on me. I lost ALL of my close relatives (went home to heaven), friends, influence, money. It was a very devastating, eye-opening period in my life. But it brought me so much closer to God and it developed me into being a more gracious, loving, forgiving, generous person.

I had made up my mind then that I wanted to live my life as a giver and not a taker. If you’ve seen my Facebook page or been around me in person you know I love to motivate and help people. I can imagine no greater compliment than when I’m done here and go to my eternal home, for people to think of me as someone who made their life better... in ANY way.

Friends, in this season of giving I want to encourage you to let that be your desire, too; to leave people better off than when you first met them. Let your requests to God begin with asking Him to show you ways that you can benefit others. When you put God first and honor Him in all that you do you will begin to see His amazing blessings in a greater way, and on such a level you didn’t even know existed!