The blessing of Giving.

    William Allen White, a famous newspaper editor in Emporia, Kansas, once gave a 50 acre tract of land to the city for a park. 

    At the dedication of the park, Mr. White walked up to the poem and gave a small speech. In that speech Mr. White shared with the audience about the blessing of giving. Mr. White said this; 

    "There are three kicks in every dollar. One kick is when you make it, and boy how I love to make a dollar! One kick is when you save it and I have the Yankee's lust for saving a buck. The third kick is when you give it away, and that is the biggest kick of all" 

    Generosity is a virtue that we are grateful being the recipients of. Look back on your life and I am sure you will find a time in your life when someone was generous with you. When someone gave you some time to listen to you. Times when someone helped you with a problem you were having. Times when someone out of their own generosity gave you some money or some possession when you desperately needed it.

    The generosity of others has a way of bringing hope into a hopeless situation. It has a way of helping struggling individuals to get a little help that they need. It has a way of brightening someone's day. You and I have both felt those moments and we both know the blessings that they brought to our lives. 

    When I was 18 years old I had been going through one of the hardest experiences of my life. I remember how I had several people who came into my life at that time to help me out. I remember a man who helped me to get a checking account and walked me through it. I remember my Guidance Councilor who helped me get the help I needed and supported me though my last remaining months of Highschool. I remember a man who invited me to eat with him at a Fathers Day dinner. I remember how one of my best friends had helped me get my drivers license. All of these times and so much more blessed me in way's I am sure they never thought much about. All of these small acts of kindness and generosity gave me light in a very dark place. 

    However, I want you to know that generosity does not just bless those who are the recipients. I have found that generosity also blesses those who give as well. You see Generosity causes us to look beyond our own needs to meet the needs of others. It causes us to see the things that God has given us in our lives not to consume but to be generous with. It gives us a since of purpose and value as we meet the needs of others. It brings us joy seeing that our generosity has helped in some way to bring a little light in someone's life. 

    This is what Luke wanted his readers to remember about what Jesus said;

I have shown you all things, that working in this way we ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.-    (Act 20:35)

    What would the world look like if more and more of us would understand the blessings of being generous? Perhaps we would find that many of the troubles in this world could be resolved. We might find that the poor and needy among us would get the help they need. We might see the depressed and hurting people of the world would get the comfort they are looking for. We might see more and more people see the Light of Christ in us and be drawn from the darkness of this world. 

    And all of us would realize that it is truly more blessed to give than it is to receive.