Generosity.

I have been spending some time reading up on financial stuff lately. Many different authors say many different things. I have my own opinions as do you I am sure. In just about all of this stuff I am reading, I have seen a lot about money. But only a few books have taken the risk to look beyond the glorious dollar to see what is going on in our souls. Here’s what’s been going in mine, as it relates to money, lately.

I used to give money away like it had no value, believing that God would give me more. And, well, He has given me more I suppose. But I got the distinct notion recently that God wanted me to be more strategic with my generosity. He wanted me to know the value of His money before I gave it away. And a funny thing happened when I started understanding the true value of money: it started to hurt when I would give money away. It didn’t hurt before, which is probably why it wasn’t hard for me to give. But now it was harder. In response, I did something probably drastic: I subconsciously stopped giving away money. Some might say that this was a step backward, but I think that God was bringing me through something here that wasn’t supposed to be clean journey. This was going to get a little messy.

Generosity (Charity) is love. (In fact, in many places it is the same greek word) Loving people can be really hard. Generosity can also be really hard. But it hadn’t been hard for me until the day that I learned the value of money. From that day, it has stung every time, even if I wanted to be generous. I can hear it now. So, if loving people is hard, do you just stop loving people? The answer should be no. But the truth is that we choose to not love people all of the time because it hurts. My path has led me back to a healthier understanding of what generosity is all about. It’s not about a feeling that I might feel if I do or don’t give. It’s about doing what’s right for the person to whom or place to which I choose to give. It’s comes back to love. 

So the question came up: What is generosity called if there isn’t love? What would you call someone who threw around generosity with no understand of it’s value? 

Whatever you would call it, that’s probably what I was. Now, I know what it costs to give. I also know what it costs on the return. I know the benefit of the sting. That is what love does. It looks for the benefit through the pain. It gives with the full knowledge that suffering will most likely happen. It lays down itself for the best interest of the other. It seeks the greater good. 

 

So, where are you on the generosity continuum? Does it hurt when you give? Does it bring joy to bless others? Does it do both? Give me some stories… 

Secrets…

We are wrapping up our My Secrets series and moving into Easter! It has been a remarkable past couple of weeks. I have personally seen great opportunity for freedom as we release the secrets that often keep us held down and held back from life. This week, we will have an opportunity to put many of these secrets to death once and for all. So then, for some reason, the questions start to come up…questions that I would like your help with: 

• IF, as we have talked about in My Secrets, it is so important and good for us to confess and give our secrets over to God, why do you think that we work so hard to keep them hidden?
• How have you seen a secret take power over you? Was there a process that you can remember? Where did it begin?

Addictions Blog

I ran across this today and thought it might be a good resource for us as we go through our current series, My Secrets, together… Read more…