Quote of the Week: Cheerfull Giving

"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."
~ Sir Winston Churchill

One thing that has been on my heart recently is the phrase "cheerful giving". It seems that from day one we are born selfish and wanting. "Mine" is one of the first words children learn, and they say it over and over.

As adults we often are not much different. Sure we learned to share, and that it is impolite to take ALL of something and leave nothing for others, but we often leave it at that. When it comes to giving, we often think our tithe is enough, or perhaps a little extra money now and again.

But let me ask you: Is that "cheerful giving"?

We see the phrase cheerful giving in 2 Coringthians 9:7:
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Over the last several months I have been praying about what it means to give cheerfully. Let me just admit it right now: my giving is not always cheerful. I believe that in giving, we are talking about more than just monetary resources. What about the giving of hospitality, food, comfort, companionship, time, love, etc.? It is so easy to give money and feel that we've made a difference, but I have come to realize how few cheerfully give of their other resources. In our rushed, hectic society, we forget to give of ourselves, and that is usually the best and most precious gift we can give anyone. We make time for things which are important to us.

I want to challenge you today to begin praying about opportunities to use yourself and your talents to serve others. We are to be Jesus' hands and feet and how are we to do that if we are not actually doing it? I pray God brings all of us to a place where we give cheerfully of ourselves, because we all know that the thing that most people notice about Christians is not their belief in Jesus, but their similarity to him.