Give Yourself Freely

One of our greatest challenges is realizing our possessions and time are our most valuable resources – to give away to others. That’s right – learning to give and how much to give is one of our most important decisions. And ultimately the attitude with which we give away our money and time is critical. Heaven doesn’t have rooms for those who focus on me. And those who give with the wrong attitude might as well not have given at all. And giving your time is as important as giving away your money.nnWhen we begin to struggle in giving what we have to others; we are forgetting where we received the possessions in the first place. “Every good thing we have ever received has come from God. ( James 1:17)” All that we have acquired has been dependent upon his grace.( 1 Cor. 4:7). When you realize all your possessions are blessings from God it should be easier to share HIS blessings with others. And when you realize there are really HIS and not yours it’s easier to share them; especially knowing you can’t take them with you to HIM. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave and the Lord taken away Blessed be the name of the Lord. (Job 1:21).nnWe easily get caught up in our culture – accumulating wealth and possessions; wanting more and wanting more – never satisfied and hoarding what we got. And with our free time we book more and more fun events; and vacations; and expensive hobbies and sports activities. We easily assume a sense of ownership of our possessions; assuming we have earned them ourselves and thereby giving us the right to posses them and keep them. The bible reminds us we need to prepare our heart to give our possession and ourselves as freely and joyfully as we received them. “It should be a pleasure for us to give what we have to others (2 Cor 9:7). nnWe should become a conduit through whom God can lavish his blessings on us, knowing we will share those blessings with others. Magnifying his blessings so others can receive them and know him. Sometimes we claim to be good stewards of our possessions when we are actually being selfish. And we have to train our heart to give joyfully not carefully.nnIf you struggle to give freely, you have become too attached to the gift and to detached from the GIVER. Meditate on all that has been given to you. Study on your entire surplus. Rejoice in your Blessings. Give with a glad heart. (Read Luke 8:18- 24) Share your free time serving others. Feel the joy from giving - nnIt’s more freeing than the feeling the joy of greed. Give freely; give joyfully – Please Store your possessions in heaven: “ Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, unlike here, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. Luke 12: 33”n nn