Double portion

 
Each of you must make up your own mind about how much to give. But don’t feel sorry that you must give and don’t feel that you are forced to give. God loves people who love to give.  2 Corinthians 9:7 CEV 

Serving is giving.
Your skills. Your effort. Your time.
Are you are cheerful giver? A generous giver?
Do you go the extra mile?

We constrain our monetary giving, after all, we might not have enough.
We constrain our serving output, lest we run out of energy, time, or both.

Holding back what we know we could give requires defending our “why”. Justifying and quantifying to ourselves and others requires an internal dialogue and an outward stance that requires energy to uphold. And man can our conscience become weighty! Often the not-doing-the-task can become greater than the task ever was.

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Luke 6:38 NIV 

Here’s what I’ve found. When I serve generously – whether, at home or the office, I end up doing more work than I would have done otherwise, yet I feel better, not worse.

My heart and mind are peaceful because there’s been nothing to defend.

Relationships are enhanced because it’s true – everyone loves a cheerful giver.

And most surprisingly, a supernatural expansion of time and energy which by all accounts shouldn’t be there, but is.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash