Giving is one of the clearest concepts in the Bible. The Word of God tells us to give cheerfully because the Lord loves a cheerful giver. So, our attitude is important. As Christians, one of our assignments is to help others. The specific form of helping can take very specific aspects. Overall, they fall into three general areas: finances, time, and talent. Sometimes all three are involved at once.
I think we’ve all heard of giving tithes and offerings to our church. This is an outstanding place to start. Some of us also give to other organizations like the Red Cross. Have you ever given money to an individual? When Covid struck us down, my men’s group took up a substantial financial gift for us. There have been times when the Lord has nudged and encouraged my wife and me to give money to individuals. We try to follow as he leads. The amount varies, but the impetus is clearly from the Lord.
I remember a time my wife and I went to Home Depot. We pulled into the parking lot. A couple with a couple of children were sitting on one of the little islands that dot the parking area. There was a small tree providing the only shade. They held a cardboard sign requesting help. I don’t recall the exact wording. We went into the store and as we shopped, my wife told me she felt the Lord telling her to give the family some money. We finished our shopping. When we left, the family was gone. We missed our opportunity to obey God and bless someone. Our prayer was someone else blessed them. We’ll never know this side of heaven, but missing that opportunity stirred in us a stronger desire to follow God’s promptings more quickly with his discernment guiding us as to the person and the amount.
Whenever we volunteer to serve, whether at church or a community organization, we make a gift of our time. The value of time is once you give, you can’t get it back. We all have an allotted amount of time in this life. How we use it is up to us. We can bless others, we can waste it, or we can use it for selfish purposes. We can increase our finances and develop our talents, but we can’t get more time.
The other aspect of giving our time is we are simply in that place of service to give to others. It might be to sit with a grieving family. It might be to clean the bathrooms at church or help an elderly person with their yard work. Our church has a group called the Men’s Brigade. These guys go out on weekend to do repairs and such for the widows and single moms. Some of us might volunteer in a church or school program so single moms can have a break for a few hours. I shared in an earlier post how our neighbors gave of their time to help us when we were down with Covid.
Giving our time to be available to others in whatever way is a blessing to them and a blessing to ourselves as God rewards us, even if no one else notices.
Talents is the third area. I’ve shared before how the Lord leads me to help other writers with the gifts he’s given me. He’s also placed in my wife and me the desire to help others manage their finances. We’ve learned a lot the hard way, and he led us to share what we’ve learned through our church by coaching individuals and families is such things as making a budget, devising a plan to get out of debt, and developing confidence in their ability to handle money wisely.
These are just a few examples of being a giver.
What are some ways you’re giving to others?
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