There are so many forms of giving. Most often when presented with the word giving we often associate it with money. How much should I give or how much am I going to give to support one cause or another. We start to count our pennies, dollars or fortune; if we are contemplating giving from our resources. Let’s use the Bible as a guide to understand this concept of giving. Lets keep in account the bible is a book that impacts millions world wide on a daily basic for centuries, so it must be credible as well as deemed valid to the majority, since it has sold more copies than any other book, the most read book to date, according to James Chapman, over 3.9 billion copies over the last fifty years. Hey how does that play into what I am trying to convey regarding giving? Its a pointer to the subject of giving, just because of its credibility. Of course there are many other books written on giving, but I chose this one because its sold more copies than any other book. In addition, the principles in it is used across the board in countless ways and through and in many religions. The Bible does not get the credit all the time. Nevertheless The numbers speak for themselves, most read and bought. So, who is influencing who. Here are some things to consider. To start there are so many ways we can give. We can give our time, money, love, attention, experiences, an ear by listening, forgiveness, compassion, patients, joy, peace and speaking life, (Positivity) to situations and circumstances in individuals lives. All these forms of giving bring some type of positivity into the world. I want to explore the first thing we have listed above, Time. How and what we spend our time on the majority of our life determines what we value the most. If what we do help serve, empower the needs of others we win just as much as the recipient of our gift. I am not suggesting all your time should be given to support the needs of others, what I am saying is we benefit as well. The Second on the list is giving money to a cause we deem worthy of our money.

The almighty dollar is powerful. I don’t care what know body say. Money answers a lot of questions that would not otherwise be answered. We often are fearful of running out of it. What of some of the others listed above ways to give: compassion, patients, love and forgiveness to name a few. Things we don’t have to work for. God given gifts. Speaking of God given gifts. John 3:16-17 speaks of the greatest gift given of all; salvation. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” If we are truly aware and thankful, nothing we think we possess is ours; its all God given. we are entrusted with it for a short period of time. Truly how we use what we are entrusted with determines our quality of life here on earth. We benefit from being connected with the gift giver who is not trying to keep any good thing (gift) from us. When we understand that, we can open up and give.

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