I spent the evening packing and getting ready for my upcoming trip. (If you want to join along, I will post often of the highlights).
Counting my socks. Packing a couple extra pairs in case it rains. Stuffing multiple sweaters, long sleeved shirts and polos into a carryon suitcase. It seems I pack two weeks worth of cloths just in case.
Yet, I also tell myself if I need something I’ll buy it over there. So I basically do both. I pack a lot and then I bring home extras.
As I’m laying in bed doing a mental checklist of things scrunched into my bags, I can’t help but smile at the good fortune I am blessed with. Blessed beyond measure that I have too many clothes to pack.
When there are people with only the clothes they have on with no extra pairs of socks in case it rains.
How humbling. How spoiled I have become.
I am so blessed.
In a world where war and fighting is a daily grind, where modern day slavery can be hidden behind our neighbors picket fence, where cancer stalks the assumed healthy, and starvation kills thousands of innocent people daily.
It makes my worrisome attitude toward packing seem so minuscule.
If I forget my razor, oh well. I can buy one. It’s not life or death. If I need an umbrella, I should enjoy the spring shower. Some people are praying for the rain. If I get lost, enjoy the detour. Many people don’t have a home or hotel to rest in.
My measly problems shouldn’t even be worried about. Because everything I’m considering can be easily fixed or corrected.
I wish I could say the same for my friends son waiting on test results. Or the single parents working multiple jobs to keep their children fed and warm.
May we all see the forgotten blessings we tend to overlook. May we also see our molehill problems as just that, molehills. May we open our hearts and our eyes to see beyond ourselves. And may we give of ourselves to those that need a little help.
At Christmas time it seems that good tidings are all around. We sing about them in the carols, we watch them in holiday movies, we embrace them through greeting card lines and sentimental memories.
It is the season of giving to those in need. It is the time of year we count our blessings a little more often. It is like charity is an aroma in the air like evergreen and cinnamon.
But has our giving that used to come from the heart just become a thing we do because we have leftover blessings?
It is interesting the motives people give to charities. When a natural disaster strikes we hear of the ultra rich giving a million dollars to the hurricane fund, to the flood relief, to the earthquake victims. And it seems they turn their donation into some kind of publicity and advertising for their latest album or movie.
But it’s not just the Hollywood celebrities that fall prey to the luster of their name being headlined in the newspaper for their donation.
How many schools, hospitals, libraries, churches have wings named after their donors. They will be forever remembered (or until renovations are needed) for their wallet size of possibly that one time gift.
But it even goes on in the small scale. It seems like charities broadcast their donors through ads, thanking them for their generous gift as they list everyone’s donation.
Is this what we’ve become?
A society of people using our wealth to bring a little more attention to ourselves? But we don’t pat ourselves on the back anymore. No, we expect someone else to give us the accolade and an encouraging tap.
I wonder what God thinks of the showy charity donations? Would He be wowed with the large dollar amount or would He shake His head?
And Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44 ESV
We tend to applaud the big donors, but not God. God doesn’t care of the size of the donation. He cares about the meaning behind it. God can do more miracles with a penny from a widow than He will ever do from a millionaires petty cash fund. We humans think we can probably do more with the millions than a measly penny, but God doesn’t.
The creator of the universe doesn’t need our scraps that we call a treasure. He has all the treasures of the world. He has it all.
He just wants us. All of us. Not bits and pieces of our checkbook or stock portfolio. He deserves much more than what we have.
And God doesn’t want a show. He doesn’t want a flashy, look at me mentality. He wants a genuine heart that gives not to be seen by the world, but seen by only Him.
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:1-4 ESV
May we all give not because it’s Christmas, not because we have some extra money, not to be recognized, not out of guilt. May we give so we can be in communion with the One who gave it all.
God knows the blessings He has given to each one of us. He sees how we squander and waste it. He sees our bad choices and foolish mistakes. He sees our selfish ways and greedy hearts.
Yet He still loves us despite our shortcomings. He loves us so our flaws can be fixed. He loves us so our eyes can be opened. He loves us so we can become His hands and feet to someone who needs His touch.
His love doesn’t cost a thing. But when He gives so much, surely we should want to give it all back to Him. He doesn’t beg for our treasures (since He was the one who ultimately gave it to us to have) but He demonstrated His lovingly sacrifice not just in words, but in actions.
May we learn to give with a pure heart. Give in a way that our next door neighbor, our coworker, our family and friends, our God-loving pew buddy, and even our left hand doesn’t know what we are giving. Give in such a way that it pleases God and God alone.
If everything is Yours Everything is Yours If everything is Yours I’m letting it go No, it was never mine to hold No, never mine – Audrey Assad
Another one of my favorite artists is Audrey Assad. Her Everygreen album is one of my favorites that I played nonstop a few years. Her songs have a way of cutting deep to my core and stir.
On her first album, The House You’re Building, one of my favorite songs is Everything is Yours.
What do you consider yours?
Is it the money in your checking account? The stocks in your investment portfolio? Your three bedroom home and two cars? What about your kids?
I think we would all say that what I have is mine. But this song struck a cord in my heart many years ago because technically everything is God’s, He is just letting me use it temporarily.
That thought and notion blew my mind. We live in a society that centers on greed and envy, but if we realize what you think you behold, you’re not the one actually holding it. It is like God is letting you hold it.
It’s like being a kid. He says he owns the house he lives in, but he didn’t buy it. He just lives their temporarily. His parents bought the house with the means God gave them to buy the house.
If we realize that everything we say is ours really isn’t ours, it wouldn’t hurt so much to give it away.
I struggle with the belief of tithing and offering. I don’t struggle with the concept, but I wrestle with how much is enough. I was taught to give a tenth, but a tenth was an Old Testament standard. When the church started expanding after Christ’s resurrection they were called to give liberally…meaning more than a tenth.
I’ve had many conversations on where the line is in the sand. If I give 12% or 15% or 35%, when will I please God? When will I be content knowing I have given enough to show my love toward Him.
The thing is, I have learned I should never be content. Giving just doesn’t mean my money, but it’s giving of all myself. Giving of time through prayer and meditation. Giving of myself through serving. Giving of my talents to those who need it. Giving of my gifts to those who don’t have it.
I think so often we think that if we put a large check in the offering plate, we don’t have to serve. But we are supposed to love the Lord with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind and and with all your strength.
We are supposed to show love in all aspects of our life. We are to give all of ourselves to him.
I think that is why I love this song so much, I’m letting it go…no, it was never mind to hold.
It is February and that means tax season is in full swing. I am a CPA and do tax returns for the majority of the year (there are many different forms of taxes). Right now the majority of the United States are working on their individual tax returns.
I see many things while doing tax returns, numbers, numbers, numbers. After a while the numbers jumble together and I can’t recall specifics on anyone’s return.
Let me preface – this blog isn’t about judgement, but one if careful thought and self reflection for all of us. Including myself.
One amount I ask everyone is, “How much did you give in charitable contributions?”
I do not judge people when they say none or $100, but it does sadden me after I see how much they make. It’s not about the money, but it’s about the heart. That someone can’t give a little to help those in need.
I feel blessed. I sometimes feel unworthy of what I do have and it causes me to wonder, “What else can I do?” Or “Am I giving enough?”
The truthful answer is we all can do more and give more.
God asks us to not just give 10%, but to give liberally beyond that. But how much is enough? 15%? 20%? 50%?
I wrestle this. Where is the magic line that if I give this amount I’m giving God what He desires and I’m not seen as selfish? I’ve always been told that if you look in someone’s checkbook, there you will see what they consider important. We place importance in what we give our money too. Food, mortgages, school lunches, drugs and alcohol, cell phone bills…the lists is limitless.
What would someone say about you if they took a peak at your vulnerable checkbook?
I’ve often thought, God doesn’t just want my money. He wants all of me – time, talents, possessions – all of me.
I hear people say, “Well, I volunteer and that makes up for not giving.”
But does it really? Can we tell God, I will give you this aspect of my life, but not this part of it.
When we tell God where His place is, we become our own god. We become our own idol. We become what God despises – a proud heart.
But once again, how much time is enough?
In college, I had an idea that I would give God at least 10% of my time – 2.4 hours a day. It was a struggle, and I can’t remember if I ever reached that goal.
But shouldn’t we give God at least that much? That much in prayer, reading, praising, sharing our talents, building up our relationships centered on Him, encouraging the discouraged, visiting the sick, this list too is limitless.
Why does 2.4 hours seem like a long time to do what we are called to do all the time?
Once again, this blog is not one of condemnation, but it’s one of my own self reflection. Unless we reflect on our own distorted and ugly image, we will never correct it.
It’s time to allow God to break us from who we are and build us up into who we are to become. It will hurt. It will. But He is good. He is kind. He is loving. Who better to fix what we didn’t think was broken.
Eric Suddoth - Dream Chaser 