it’s always better to give

“…it is more blessed to give than to receive.” – Acts 20:35

It’s that time of year again…Christmas.  All over the world, little kids are preparing their letters to send to Santa, teenagers are showing their parents commercials about the latest gaming system or cell phone and grown-ups are telling each other what they desire as a present.  One of the most famous questions we usually hear doing this time is, “What are you going to get me for Christmas?”

Sadly to say, a lot of people’s attitudes and actions during this time are motivated solely by what they are planning to receive.  For example, people will buy someone a gift because they want to receive a gift in return.  However, what if we shift our focus this season and purposed solely to see what we can give.  We make giving our motivation for our attitudes and actions, not because we want something in return, but because giving is our desire, not receiving.

As we shift our focus this year, let’s make sure our giving says the following:

1. Our giving should be an expression of our love. John 3:16 says that God love the world so much that His love prompted Him to give. When we give this year, we should follow God’s example and do it because we love the people we are giving the gift to.

2. Our giving should represent our best. John 3:16 also says that God gave his best – His only son – to those He loves.  When we give, we should make sure it represent our best, or something that has value to us.

3. Our giving should be done with a cheerful heart. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says that God loves a cheerful giver.  It also says that we should not give grudgingly.  To give grudgingly means to give something to someone, but in our hearts we really did not want to.  To give with a cheerful heart is to give something to someone, and we are happy and excited to do it.

Ways to Give

Giving your time: A good way to give of your time is to volunteer in some capacity.  I am sure that you have probably seen the people in front of the grocery stores ring the bell for the Salvation Army.  They are actually giving of their time to volunteer to raise money for a great organization.  Or it could be as simple as volunteering to help your mom with Christmas preparation instead of going to the mall with friends.  What personal time can you give up and donate to helping someone else this season.

Giving your talent: To give of your talents is to use the things you are a good at doing to help others.  For example, you may be a great actor and your church is putting on a play at a nursing home.  Volunteering to be a part of the play would be you giving of you talents to bless others.  Do you bake?  Are you good at crafts?  Sometimes original and unique gifts from the heart mean more than buying something flashy from a department store.  Does your grandmother enjoy hot drinks?  Maybe putting together a basket of flavored coffee and tea would mean more to her than a new Blue Ray DVD player.

Giving your resources: This is the most common way of giving during the Christmas season, but it doesn’t always have to mean buying a gift.  There are also many different charities and organizations that could use your financial donation.  For example, Angel Tree is an organization which gives gifts to children who have a parent (or parents) that is incarcerated.  Another organization is Compassion International which gives gifts to children in impoverished countries.  There are many ways you can give of your resources that does not necessarily mean spending a whole lot of money shopping.

There are many ways you can give.  We should all take the time to seek God and consider how He would like for us to spend our time, talents, and resources on in order to be a blessing to others.  Whatever you decide to give this year, let’s make sure that the actual “giving” is your focus and that it is heart-felt, full of love and excitement to do it!