Being a Giver

I was on the receiving end this week. I received a phone call on Thursday telling me that I had been given an extremely generous gift. In fact, it wasn’t one gift, it was two. This gift came from a group of people who truly went WAY above and beyond in their giving. I was truly blessed and look forward with great anticipation to enjoying their gift to me.

But it got me to thinking.......am I a giver? A good friend of mine once said, "Never give to a non-giver because at that moment your giving stops." Good point! If I give to a non-giver, the giving stops. But if I give to another giver, the giving just keeps on going and going and going.

Let’s face it, there are two kinds of people in this world: givers and takers. I’m guessing we all know our share of both. But the big question is this: Which one are you?

A couple of verses of Scripture come to mind. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, "God loves the person who gives cheerfully." And Romans 12:8 says, "If you have money, share it generously."

The following story explains it well:

As the Cadillac owner walked to his car, he saw a boy about 10-years old staring intently through the windows. Wondering what he was up to, the man put his hands on the youngster's shoulders, pulled gently, and asked him what he was doing. The boy said he was interested in cars and had read a lot about different models. He then told him many details about this particular year and body style.

After a bit, the boy asked, "Mister, how much did you pay for this car?" The man replied,

"Nothing. My brother gave it to me."

The boy responded, "I wish . . ." but stopped in mid_sentence.

The man chuckled, "You were going to say, 'I wish I had a brother like that.'"

"No, I was going to say, 'I wish I could be a brother like that'. You see, sir, I have a brother who is crippled and I'd like to do a lot of things for him."

Let me encourage you to follow the example of the individuals who blessed me last week....and the heart of the young man in the story....be a generous giver. Giving isn’t exclusively monetary. There are so many ways to give into the lives of others. Choose to be a giver. Trust me, it’s the much better way to go!