THE BEAUTY OF LIFE

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"Listen carefully to what I am saying—and be wary of the shrewd advice that tells you how to get ahead in the world on your own. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes" (Mark 4:24-25, The Message). 

The beauty of life lies in giving, not getting. True victory and progress in life come from giving, not getting. Life itself begins through giving, and at the time a child is born, the woman is said to have 'given' birth. The new born child, the most beautiful image of God’s creation never belongs to those who 'took' her delivery; she goes home with the one who 'gave' her birth. Giving, my beloved, is a more blessed way of life than grabbing. 

There must be someone somewhere thanking God for your life every now and then. There must be a child somewhere (apart from your own) whose school fees you paid. There must be someone somewhere whose apartment rent you helped pay. You should consider your life incomplete if no one is constantly thanking God for your life. The more such people exist, the richer your life becomes, and the more valuable your life becomes to heaven and earth. 

Friends, I need you to realize that whatever blessing that comes to you was not meant to end up with you alone. Learn the wisdom of letting a portion of the blessing pass on to others. Don't let your life be like the Dead Sea: nothing lives in it because nothing leaves from it. There is death in your life if you are accustomed to receiving and never giving. Stinginess, my dear friends, impoverishes. 

Please don't go through this life without empowering anybody or affecting people materially. And please don’t wait till you have enough before you subscribe to this kind of life I am talking about. Those who don't have enough to give when they are poor will never have enough to give when they are rich. It's really not about what you have, it's about who you are. A giver gives because it is his nature to give. I will keep coveting such a nature because it is the nature of God. 

Here is what you should do. Open your palms. Extend your hands to others within the limit of your capacity. Be admonished and challenged by the example of the Macedonian churches of whom the Bible says that they gave generously out of "their deep poverty" and while going through "a great trial of affliction" (2 Corinthians 8:2). Their story is worthy of our attention. Please read it carefully. The good Lord renew our hearts and implant in us such grace that was found in the Macedonians of biblical times.