Originally published Tuesday, 12 February 2013.
In a day and time when many are taught from a very young age to be selfish, stingy, and demand that we “get ours”(or throw a fit trying), I thought it relevant to go back to the simple principle of generosity.
Most of us are familiar with Acts 20:35 ”….it is more blessed to give than receive.”
Do we really get that? Do we understand what that means? I absolutely love to give gifts to my children at Christmas. I love to see my six-year-old’s face beam with joy as she opens a new baby doll or dish set. (My teens’ faces usually only glisten with cash these days, but nonetheless….). What about when we aren’t speaking about our own children, friends, or family? What about the stranger who is begging roadside or the homeless woman who has two children to care for? Do you give them? Do you enjoy giving to them? Or do we run down the list of possible reasons why they “got themselves into that position?”
In this journey called “life” I have so much more to learn, but there are a few central truths that I think I have grasped — one is the spirit of being generous. I absolutely do not want to be the one (or have my children be the ones) who is out to get more and more and demand that I get everything due me. There is nothing that brings me greater joy than buying groceries for a single mom and blessing her with a surprise at her door. Or maybe I pull money from my purse to bless the stranger in line at the coffee shop behind me. Maybe I allow that rude driver to pull out in front of me without slamming on the horn.
Make a decision to be generous with your time, talents, and financial resources. You will be glad you did.
Jennifer Maggio is an award-winning author and speaker who is considered one of the nation’s leading authorities on single parents’ and women’s issues. She is founder of The Life of a Single Mom Ministries and Overwhelmed: The Single Moms Magazine. For more information, visit http://www.thelifeofasinglemom.com.
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