1 Chronicles 29:9 The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.

The fact of the matter is, there is joy in giving. Paul quotes Jesus as saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) The devil does all he can to hide that truth from people, because avarice, covetousness, and selfishness are some of his favorite weapons for destroying lives. This is timeless truth, but in recent years scientific studies have been done that show the surest way to be happy is regularly to do good things for other people. Giving materially is just one of those good things, but it is an important one. It really boils down to practical expressions of love. Love in the abstract is extremely hard to define, because genuine love will be active. When Jesus defined the two greatest commandments as love for God and love for our neighbor, (Matthew 22:36-40) all of this fits together very logically. Some people are givers because of their motivational gifting, (Romans 12:6-8) and taken to extremes that can cause problems for them and for their families, but those of us who are not so gifted need to learn the joy of giving. When we are rightly related to God, we realize that His supply is quite literally infinite, and as we give we are merely acting as channels for that supply. That’s not to say that we are to be indiscriminate in our giving; there’s such a thing as damaging by giving. Some people are finally waking up to the reality that inappropriate giving can destroy motivation, initiative, and even morality, as is so evident in the US welfare system. Sometimes the best gift we can give someone is firm encouragement, without any material toys. That takes wisdom and strength of character, and can be hard, but we must not let that deter us from the joy of being an agent of God’s supply.

This is of course extremely applicable to us right now. We are in need of fairly major supply of funds in relation to the project the Lord is leading us into, but we must not let that blind us to the opportunities He gives us to supply others’ needs. We must not let our own needs blind us to how the Lord wants to use us to bless others. We’ve got to remember that God is never at a loss about anything. He wants to bless us and many others through this project into which He’s leading us. We need to give, and we need to allow others to give as well. I need to teach on giving, and not forget to give myself – and give of myself. God wants us all to have the joy of giving.

Father, thank You for this very timely reminder. I pray that You would show me how to market my photography better, so that I will have more to give. Thank You for the response to my current show. Keep me from being self-centered about anything, but rather honor Jesus as Lord in every detail, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!