“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”
2 Corinthians 9:8
Her name was Mae. She passed away recently one week shy of her 100th birthday. Much about Mae intrigued me – her longevity, clarity of mind, physical condition. Another was her fondness for technology. At age 97 she told me, “I love computers, cell phones, email, and zoom.” But what intrigued me most was what I learned from her family members as we put the final touches on her Celebration of Life Service. Each one spoke of her financial frugality as one of her defining characteristics. That trait should not surprise us considering she lived her life from early childhood through her young adult years enduring the want of the Great Depression and the rationing of essentials such as food, clothing, shoes, gasoline during WWII. Mae’s frugality, like that of my parents and many others I have known from that generation, was motivated by not taking necessities for granted and by knowing the difference between real want and real need.
In and of itself Mae’s frugality is not what intrigued me most. What intrigued me most is why she was so frugal. Mae managed her finances frugally, not so she could build herself a large financial nest egg of security, but so she could have more financial resources to give away to those in need. Her frugality financed her generosity. Mae was a giver, not a grasper. What an example she was of the giving love of Jesus.
In life, one of the major choices we get to make is whether we will be givers or graspers. Givers share with an open hand. Graspers keep with a closed fist. What promotes a giving mindset and lifestyle?
- See yourself in respect to your financial resources as manager, not owner.
If you see your possessions as your own because you have earned and generated them, then you will use them as you see fit. It might not even matter to you what God thinks about how you use them. But if you believe that God owns everything and what you have is on loan from Him for you to manage and use as He directs, then what matters to God will matter to you regarding what you do with your financial resources. God wants us to be, not just givers, but generous givers. We see that truth in the words of Jesus, “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38 ESV). - Fight your fears and insecurities with faith.
Believing that God will meet your own needs if you choose to be a giver, will help you defeat any fear and insecurity you may feel. One of the aspects of God’s upside-down economy is that we get by giving – not so we will have more for ourselves, but so that we’ll have even more to give away. Believe God that He’s telling the truth in 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 (ESV), “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.” - Create within you an environment of contentment as the foundational soil in which a spirit of generosity can grow.
Contentment is the ability and willingness to be happy, settled, and at peace with how things are at a given moment – especially in regards to possessions. Discontentment can be a significant inhibitor of generosity, if no matter what or how much one possesses, it’s never enough. Contentment is enhanced if we learn to discern the difference between real want and real need. (1 Timothy 6:6-10) - Love others at least as much as you love yourself.
Love, God’s kind of sacrificial love, compels giving of self to others, even to the point of sacrifice. To choose to be a grasper flies in the face of God who willingly gave us His Son so we can live. The best motivation for being a giver is to allow God’s love for us to make us willing for another person’s needs to trump our wants and desires. (Matthew 22:34-40; James 2:14-17)
Real joy is found in the giving, not in the keeping.
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
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