You Can't Out Give God

This month in Kids Kanyon the virtue which we are teaching the kids is Generosity. Each month we focus on a different virtue and the Biblical principles behind it. There are several months where I look at the virtue that we are teaching and think, "Oh Man, I really still need work on that." A perfect example of this would be that the virtue of the month that is coming in January is Self-Control. I definitely struggle with self-control a lot of in particular areas of my life...i.e . Most things involving food or sugar. :-)

However, as I think about generosity, it is an area where I think I do OK. In no way am I trying to say how awesome I am (although I am awesome) :-) or brag about how generous I am. Nor do I think that I have arrived and cannot possibly grow in areas of generosity. All that being said, I do think that I have a natural proclivity toward generosity in my personality. If you are familiar with the 5 Love Languages, my predominant love language is receiving gifts (so that means that if you want to show me love...or even that you like me a little bit... buy me lots of gifts and presents.) :-) Because this is my love language, I also like to give and find it somewhat easy to give whether it be gifts, financially, whatever.

In my experiences, I have discovered that the more you give, the more you receive. I know that may sound weird, but it actually happens. Let me give a recent example. At our church, we are doing a huge project to bless all the kids at 2 local elementary schools with Christmas presents and do some much needed construction on our youth building. Mark and I discussed it and decided upon an amount that we would give toward this project. However, when I was writing the check for this project, I was considering writing it for less that we had agreed upon. My reasoning for this was good. We have had several unexpected expenses in the past couple months, the extra expenses that Christmas brings and the fact that we already give financially to our church and other charities and agencies that we support. I was concerned about whether it was a wise financial decision to give the extra money. I was still planning on giving...just thinking about giving less. However, I did take a step of faith and go ahead and write the check for the amount that we had agreed upon. Guess what happened...the very next day we received an unexpected check in the mail as a gift.

In my own thinking, I would often just chalk that up to coincidence. However, this is not the only time that something like this has happened. I find that whenever I give...especially when I give in uncertainty...I am always blessed by it.

So here is my encouragement for you, just try it and see what happens. Give sacrificially to something that is important to you whether it be your church, a favorite charity or a local philanthropic organization. I am not saying that you will receive a large check in the mail the next day, but I promise that you will be blessed in some way!!