Free To Give

“Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” – 2 Corinthians 9:7

While I was attending seminary my wife and I took a Sunday to worship at a Holiness Church. We figured we were going to worship in Lutheran churches for the rest of our lives when I finally graduated, so why not try something really different?

This church was located in a very poor part of the city. For a seminary couple my wife and I were rich, thanks to my wife’s fulltime work at a major accounting firm. When the offering baskets came around on long poles I noticed that everyone was putting in change. I felt so sorry for these poor people so I put some folding money in the basket and felt pretty darned magnanimous. Until, that is, about a half hour later when they passed the basket again for people’s “gifts and offerings”. This time those saints of God were dropping all sorts of bills into the basket. I sheepishly grabbed my wallet and emptied whatever I had left into the plate.

But they weren’t done yet. About an hour later it was time for people to bring forward their tithes. I couldn’t believe my eyes. People were stuffing all sorts of money into envelopes and walking them up to the front of the church where they dropped them into a big basket and received a blessing from the pastor. And what blew me away was the joy I saw on people’s faces as they brought those tithes forward. Some of them literally danced up to the altar and danced back to their pews. I just sat and begged God to forgive my arrogance, my stinginess, and my weak faith.

I learned an important lesson that day about genuine giving. I’d given an offering that day…two, as a matter of fact. But my giving was far from genuine. And that’s what I want to share with you in the next few devotions…what the Bible has to say about genuine giving. People give for lots of different reasons, but not all giving accomplishes what God wants to accomplish in our lives. We don’t give for God’s sake; we give because we need to…we give because God wants to do something in our lives through our giving. Through the gift of God’s grace we are free to give.

Bringing It Home
1. What’s your honest attitude about giving? When you give do you count it as gain or loss?
2. Does your heart tend toward shame or pride when it comes to your giving? Pray about it. Remember that growth in giving requires growth in faith.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, every good thing comes from your hand. Grant me the grace to know that truth in the depths of my soul, and allow it to well up into a life of generosity. Cleanse my heart from any attitude or perspective that would keep me from knowing the freedom that comes from generous and genuine giving. Amen.

Jeff Marian
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Burnsville, MN
www.princeofpeaceonline.org

Unconditional Acceptance

I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with. Her last project of the term was called “Smile.” The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions. I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway, so, I thought this would be a piece of cake, literally.

Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald’s one crisp March morning. It was just our way of sharing special play time with our son. We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did. I did not move an inch…an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved.

As I turned around I smelled a horrible “dirty body” smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men. As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was “smiling.” His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God’s Light as he searched for acceptance.

He said, “Good day” as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally deficient and the blue eyed gentleman was his salvation. I held my tears as I stood there with them.

The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted. He said, “Coffee is all Miss” because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm). Then I really felt it-the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes.

That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action. I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue eyed gentleman’s cold hand.

He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, “Thank you.” I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, “I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope.” I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son.

When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, “That is why God gave you to me, Honey. To give me hope.” We held hands for a moment and at that time we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give.

That day showed me the pure Light of God’s sweet love.

I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand. I turned in “my project” and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, “Can I share this?” I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class.

She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God, share this need to heal people and be healed. In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald’s, my husband, son, instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.

I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn: UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.

Much love and compassion is to each and every person who may read this and learn how to LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS – NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.

- Author unknown

The Sandbox Rock

A little boy was spending his Saturday morning playing in his sandbox. He had with him his box of cars and trucks, his plastic pail, and a shiny, red plastic shovel. In the process of creating roads and tunnels in the soft sand, he discovered a large rock in the middle of the sandbox. The lad dug around the rock, managing to dislodge it from the dirt. With no little bit of struggle, he pushed and nudged the rock across the sandbox by using his feet. (He was a very small boy and the rock was very big.)

When the boy got the rock to the edge of the sandbox, however, he found that he couldn’t roll it up and over the little wall. Determined, the little boy shoved, pushed, and pried, but every time he thought he had made some progress, the rock tipped and then fell back into the sandbox.

The little boy grunted, struggled, pushed, shoved — but his only reward was to have the rock roll back, smashing his chubby fingers. Finally he burst into tears of frustration.

All this time the boy’s father watched from his living room window as the drama unfolded. At the moment the tears fell, a large shadow fell across the boy and the sandbox. It was the boy’s father. Gently but firmly he said, “Son, why didn’t you use all the strength that you had available?”

Defeated, the boy sobbed back, “But I did, Daddy, I did! I used all the strength that I had!”

“No, son,” corrected the father kindly. “You didn’t use all the strength you had. You didn’t ask me.”

With that the father reached down, picked up the rock, and removed it from the sandbox.

Do you have “rocks” in your life that need to be removed? Are you discovering that you don’t have what it takes to lift them? There is One who is always available to us and willing to give us the strength we need.

When the apostle Paul faced times of a broken spirit and sapped strength, he proclaimed to the Corinthian church, “My grace is enough for you. When you are weak, then my power is made perfect in you” (2 Corinthians 12:9). When we are broken in spirit and our strength is spent, we can turn to our Savior Jesus.

- Author unknown