Give your pebbles

Personal Photo: Giving is the most freeing form of serving the Lord there is. Knowing we are loved and blessed from the Lord stirs us to give back, to give to others. It brings with it a peace, a complete calm that reassures us that God sees us, appreciates us, and is with us, even when we might feel as though no one else recognizes our giving spirits.

I was graduating from a class that I was taking for work on this past Tuesday and because it was our final class, people brought guests and family members to the event. We had to give a speech, which was nothing new to the course, but I was absolutely lost as to what to talk about. Every week I tried to choose a different topic to share with the class, but I was running out of things that I had not yet tapped into. Finally, while I was sitting at work on Tuesday morning, a memory trickled into my mind, and I knew what I was going to talk about. Because the Holy Spirit brought the memory back to me, and the lesson it taught me in life, I thought it might be a good opportunity to share it with you all as well.

Halfway through my first-grade year, my teacher told my class that we were going to get a new student. My first thought was how strange of a time in the year to be getting a new student, but I was excited for the chance to make a new friend. She came to class, and I reached out to her and quickly we became friends. We had snack time every day during class, and it became apparent that she did not have a treat to eat any day during the week. I began sharing my snacks with her, and I went home and told my mom about it. My mom began packing food for both me and my new friend, and explained to me that she likely did not have the money to afford to bring food every day. The girl badly wanted to repay me for bringing her snacks, and so she would bring to class with her some pretty pebbles she had found on our playground, and she would give them to me as a trade. I always accepted the stones, and I kept them in a shoebox under my bed for many years. She moved away at the end of the school year, and I have not reconnected with her, but the gesture of her kindness to me warms my heart to this day.

Giving to her made a difference. It made a difference more in me than it might have in her, but her gratitude and form of repayment was more valuable to me than anything monetary that she could have offered. Every single year on my New Year's Resolution list is to go out of my way to give. I think we so often find ourselves exhausted from giving, tired of feeling used, and drained to the point where we feel as though what we give is not recognized, appreciated, or worth it. We can catch ourselves turning inward, collapsing upon ourselves to where we are unable to do any work for God because we are soaking up all of His love and trying to rebuild ourselves. I found myself there more than once, where I feel like my giving is not making a difference. So I want to tackle this topic. Giving. What does God say about giving, and how can we shift our perspective to see giving not as an action item, but an opportunity?

The key to giving is not to give of yourself to get anything back. 2 Corinthians 9:7 tells us "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." This verse explains, very clearly, to us that the desire to give comes from within. When we see the opportunity to freely give of ourselves, we are doing the Lord's work. It might seem obvious when you first consider the verse, but it is very important. And can sometimes be very challenging. When we are burnt out, we might not do things so cheerfully. I was talking with my mom earlier this week and she mentioned how important it is for her to reach out to others, to check in with them, and to be proactive in maintaining relationships and expressing that she cares. My mom gives from her heart, so it makes sense why it is so important for her to want to help others. I have told her before that she has the most human connection with people, that she can make others feel loved, listened to, and understood because she gives straight from her heart. We talked about how using our faith is really like a workout. If we do not exercise our faith in our lives, we lose the strength, we lose the energy. This ties into the verse above because it tells us that when we are a cheerful giver, we are able to exercise our faith, we are able to be the bridge between someone and God, and we are able to do His work more effectively.

Giving from the heart is challenging sometimes, especially when we are feeling underappreciated. In this way, it can be difficult to see why we should give. John 6:27 states "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” Here we can see that giving from our hearts is doing work for the Spirit, working for food that endures to eternal life. Giving of ourselves and expecting something in return or doing it for the wrong reasons is working for food that spoils. However, this verse explains that giving to others helps sustain us; It strengthens our faith. This is how we can shift our perspective to be able to see giving as an opportunity to fuel our spirits, to carry us through challenging times and remind us why we put ourselves out there, why we give so freely. We give our time, energy, love, and more because God recognizes it, and loves when we do it. The work it takes helps build our muscles of faith, fueling us to reach everlasting life with Christ.

When we understand why we give, it makes giving much easier. And the best part about it is that we can express graciousness and giving in everything we do. Colossians 3:23-24 tells us "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." This really is the heart of it all, isn't it? This is the most challenging and the most freeing part of giving to others. Once we realize that we give of ourselves, we work hard, we respect others, we are kind, all because we seek acceptance and glory from God, not from the people that we are giving to, working for, or being kind to, we can set ourselves free from fear of unacceptance and burnout from giving. We give to others because God gave to us, we give because we are forgiven, we give because we can thank God through giving to others and to Him. When we experience burnout, feel as though we are underappreciated, or find ourselves exhausted from the energy it can take to give, we can remind ourselves of this verse. We can remind ourselves that we are giving because we are serving and thanking God when we do so.

The final piece of the concept of giving is, to me, the most overlooked. It is where I started, with the story of my friend giving me pebbles in return for the snacks. I cannot help but consider how often I feel like my friend, how easily we dismiss our giving. It can be easier to burnout when we feel like our giving is not going to be more than a drop in the bucket on the grand scheme of things. God has given us so much, how could we possibly repay Him? My dad always tells me that we cannot outgive God. He is referring to how the more we give, the more we get given. The important part is that we give whatever and whenever we can, and God will take care of replenishing and strengthening what it took for us to give. The blessings He gives to us in return for our giving far outweigh whatever it could be that we gave. So when we feel burnt out, or like it does not matter, we can remember that we are giving back to Him when we give to others. We can give our pebbles. The difference we make in others might be so much more valuable than we ever thought possible. My point is that God will accept whatever it is that we have to give. We might not have money, status, or things, but when we are a cheerful giver, we work for food that endures to eternal life, and we do it all as a way to serve the Lord, the Lord gives us praise. He sees the work we are doing, He recognizes how exhausting it can be, He renews our strength to be able to grow our muscles of faith, and He will praise and bless us more than we could ever imagine when we freely give as a way to glorify His name.