The Weekly Word - A Devotion for the Week of December 12
Giving gifts—big or small—never leaves us lacking. Rather, it’s a path to greatness, both in God’s kingdom and here on earth.
Occasionally, we receive an ask online or letter in the mail—or perhaps it’s a heart-wrenching advertisement on TV—and we know we should do something to help. But then we remember we have bills coming due and Christmas presents to buy.
Or, as it is in today’s inflated world, we know prices for necessities like food, gas and utilities continue to stay high. As a result, we bypass that donation because we know we’ll need the extra money at some point to put food on the table and get to and from work.
Giving is a choice we make. Proverbs 18:16 tells us when we give, we can better understand God’s message about ushering into the presence of the great. Does giving make us God-like? Not in the true sense of the word.
But giving does give us the knowledge and comfort that our gift ultimately helps someone else just as God helps us in our own times of need.
It can be easy to get caught up in the mindset of always needing to hold on to what we have for fear that it won’t be there when we need it. It’s actually an inherent response that goes back to our origins when survival depended on making sure you had enough—and sometimes more than enough—even if that meant someone else didn’t.
But we as well as the world around us have evolved. As more enlightened, educated people, we are able think more like God and His perspective on giving—and we can begin to change our attitudes. At the same time, we can work together and begin to change our world for the better.
Heavenly Father – please help me remember to be more like you and your son, Jesus, with a giving heart and mind. Help me always compassionate and understanding toward the needs of my fellow man. Thank you. Amen.