Are You Joyful at Giving?

[Denise Bethea]

Phillippians 4:12 "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want" (NIV)When we develop the habit of looking for a need and then meeting it, we will experience joy as never before. Most of the time, instead of looking for a need, we look the other way.Once upon a timethere were four men namedEverybody, Somebody, Anybody, and NobodyThere was an important job to be doneAnd Everybody was asked to do it.But Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.Anybody could have done it.But Nobody did it.Somebody got angry about itBecause it was Everybody's job.Everybody thought that Anybody could do itAnd Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebodyand Nobody did the jobThat Anybody could have done in the first place. (Author unknown)It is a paradox in the Christian life that the more we give, the more we receive. In Luke 6:38, we find an amazing promise, "If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving--large or small--it will be used to measure what is given back to you." If you want joy, learn to invest your life in others. Be on the lookout for a need and meet it. God created us to share each other's load because a shared load is a lighter load.F.B. Meyer once noted: "I used to think that God's gifts were on shelves-one above another and the taller we grow, the easier we can reach them. Now I find that God's gifts are on shelves, one beneath another and the lower we stoop, the more we get." The apostle Paul says it this way in 2 Corinthians 9:10. "For God is the one who gives seed to the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, He will give you many opportunities to do good, and He will produce a great harvest of generosity in you."Give materially.Give your time.Give encouragement.Give a praying heart.Give a listening ear.Give yourself.... (Girlfriends in God)