“You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give” (Khalil Gibran, The Prophet).

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you” (John Bunyan).

I was thinking as I was listening to Lionel Ritchie on the way home, the reason I love a good movie or good book or good song is that it is just a way for the artist to tell his or her story in such a way that when I take it in, it feels a lot like my own story. It’s like Lionel is singing my own words in a more eloquent way than I could ever express them.

Art requires sacrifice. It requires being vulnerable to share yourself with the world. Not always your best self. Sometimes, it’s the less attractive, un-Photoshopped version of you that gets put out there.

But you give anyway.

God has called us to be generous. Not just with our money and possessions, but also with our time, our talents, our life experiences, and with our lives.

Really, it all belongs to God. Every bit of it. Even you belong to God. You were after all bought with a very great and very high price. If the price was much too high, God still paid it anyway– not grudgingly but willingly and gladly.

If my treasure is where my heart is, then my checkbook tells me who (and what) I’m really and truly worshipping. Ouch. That last line was really convicting.

As I’m figuring out, you can learn to be generous and it’s never too late to start. It starts with the tithe but doesn’t end there. After all, the New Testament standard of giving is the Cross. As my pastor once said, you don’t stand in front of Jesus with His nail-pierced hands and feet and wounded side and debate percentages. You give all because Jesus gave all.

“That’s what I consider true generosity: You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing” (Simone de Beauvoir).