I was thinking about Sunday’s sermon on giving from 2 Corinthians 8:1-7. The Apostle Paul commends the Macedonians for their generosity and notes that even though they themselves were poor, they were literally begging to be able to give to help their brothers and sisters in the faith.

I’ve known people like that. So have you. People who are so generous and have such giving hearts that you want to be just like them. People who fill your heart with joy whenever you’re around them.

Then I thought of The Giving Tree.

Yes, I mean that book by Shel Silverstein.

In case you don’t know the story, it’s about a tree who loves a little boy very much and gives of herself for this little boy. And the boy never gives anything back. He just asks and takes.

At first, you and I think of how selfish that little boy (who eventually grows up) is, but then maybe you’re like me and think, “That’s how I am with God.”

He gives and gives and it seems all I ever do is take. But then again, what do I have to give God that He didn’t give me in the first place? Even my desire to give to Him comes from Him.

I think that true giving is giving back to God what is already His. Like my money. Or my time. Or my talents. Or just me.

God wants us to be generous with those around us as He was generous with us. God wants to reflect His giving heart to those around us where we live, work, and play (to borrow a phrase my church uses often).

God’s working on my heart, making it as open and giving as His own heart. Little by little, He’s transforming me into a more giving, generous person who can one day measure my wealth by what I gave away rather than by what I kept.

All that from a kid’s book.