Giving… Why is it so hard to do?

Why is it so hard for us to give? We all enjoy Receiving, but many of us (myself included) wrestle with giving.

I have been wrestling with this and have come to the following conclusion… We find it hard to give because giving has an inherent sense of loss. We Lose whatever we give away, never to get it back again, and in today’s modern world we learn from a young age that losing is BAD, and winning is GOOD.

None of us want bad things, we do not enjoy losing anything. We want good things, and there is nothing wrong with that. We want to WIN and there is nothing wrong with that either. God himself wants good things for us, and he tells us to live for him like a man running a race to win it. God WANTS us to be successful.

What we need to understand is that according to God, Giving is a good thing. So God wants us to give. Not because He is punishing us, but because He wants only the best for us. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” God even goes one step further, not only doe he love a cheerful giver, he also says in the very next sentence, “And God is able to make ALL grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

So God has basically promised us that when we give with a cheerful heart, he will insure that we will have success in the things we do. (We need to remember that God's definition of success and our definition of success are often different, but that is a subject for another blog!)

We must change our thinking from the ways of the world…. Giving = Losing
To think like God… Giving = Winning

Until His Plan for me is complete...
Paul