Encouraging Word

Intro
Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with an encouraging word for your day. Starting in 2 weeks, I will be spending several weeks on the subject of Loving Like Jesus. Last year, we did 7 weeks of concentrated study on our own” Love Project”, which encouraged us to walk in love, and exhibit the 7 main characteristics of a loving person. So as a review and follow up, we are going to spend this week being encouraged and motivated to walk in love and demonstrate love as a way of life through generosity. Be encouraged today! We can make a lifelong impact on our world by loving others by having a spirit of generosity.

Monday
This week we will be talking about the amazing foundational principle of generosity that accompanies a loving life. Whenever I think of the most loving and giving person I know, I can’t help but think of God himself. What a giver He is! Because He is Love, His whole nature is to give. Giving and loving definitely go hand in hand. As we look at generosity this week, I want us to consider ways that we can give ourselves to others. Generosity involves money, but it is much more than just money. Generosity is giving your attention, your time, your abilities, your compassion, or your money freely to others. When we think about how much we have freely received from God (Matt 10:8), we can be a conduit that continues the cycle, and show God’s generosity to others. So how can we give of ourselves to others. One of the greatest ways to begin being a more generous person is to begin developing a spirit of generosity around your life. When given the opportunity to give, determine to contribute what you can. That could mean opening your heart to the needs of others. Begin looking at your own stuff, and notice extras that are excess, or just take up space. One of the easiest places to do this is in your closet. Do you have something that you don’t ever use that could be a blessing to someone else? Why not give it to them! Another area is in our garage, or storage unit, if you have one. Why do we store an extra couch, or whatever, when someone we know might need one right now. Generosity does involve developing a giving spirit, but it also means we develop a heart for helping and serving others. How can what God has given to me, be a blessing to someone else, can be the question we ask ourselves regularly. The one foundational scripture that probably all of us can quote that gives us the best example of the love/generosity connection is John3:16. For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son……..God so loved, that he gave. We can show love, and sow love, by giving. Let’s keep our eyes open, and let’s expect our hearts to be enlarged as we develop a spirit of giving.


Tuesday
This week we will be talking about the amazing foundational principle of generosity that accompanies a loving life. If we truly are committed to making love a way of life, we will be people of a generous spirit. Generosity is giving your attention, your time, your abilities, your money and your compassion freely to others. Jesus said in Matt 10:42, that even giving a glass of water to someone who is thirsty would be rewarded. I love the simplicity of that thought. Giving of ourselves doesn’t have to be extravagant to get God’s attention. He is watching us to see if we are watching others. Are we sensitive to the needs of others? Do we notice when someone needs something as small as a bottle of water that will quench their thirst and meet a physical need in their life? God notices! We think He just notices the million dollar gifts, or the ones that man applauds. God sees when we give in small and in big ways. The most important thing He notices is the attitude of our heart. If we are looking for the world’s applause with our generosity, that is all the reward we will get. If we are looking to be a blessing, and don’t care if anyone notices, our reward will be great. The greatest reward for living generously is eternal, but the immediate satisfaction, and gratification that comes from being a blessing to someone else, is a feeling that is so wonderful, it is hard to describe. So how can we experience that wonderful feeling of joy on a regular basis? Why not become a regular giver? We can creatively think of ways, every day, to give to others. What are some creative ways you can give of yourself daily to those you love? It can be as simple as an extra hug as you become more generous with your affection, or handing your spouse a $20 bill and telling them to buy something for themselves that day. Operating in a spirit of generosity really has amazing results. Not only are you blessed as the giver, but someone else receives a blessing as you give. Why not determine to develop a generous spirit, and be more generous with others than you ever have been before.

Wednesday
Yesterday we talked about developing a spirit of generosity in our lives. As we talk about generosity as one of the foundational principles of making love a way of life, I gave you the opportunity yesterday to begin finding creative ways to live a more giving life. Have you noticed when you do give that joy and energy accompanies your giving? There is something that happens on the inside of us when we give from the heart with an attitude of love. It is a feeling of satisfaction that the world can’t take away! Besides just seeing someone else be blessed, we get to experience the rewards of improved relationships that bring and energy and enthusiasm that nothing can replace. So let’s be ready, willing and on the lookout for ways we can give to others. Here are two things to think about when it comes to giving our “stuff” away to bless someone else.

1) Most of us have much more than we need. Ladies, just look at how many shoes you have! I know there might be a few of you who just have 3 pair, but generally speaking, many women I know have more shoes than they will ever wear. Men, perhaps you have extra tools in your garage that might bless a young carpenter, or maybe there is even an extra car in your garage that could be a blessing to a single mom, whose own car is on its last leg (or tire!). Crisis centers can always use blankets, pillows, sheets, and you might have extras you can give. So number 1, find where you have extras or excess, and bless someone else.

2) Hold things loosely. Too often our early possessions become more important in our lives than they should be. What “thing or things” in your life hold a spot that is too tight. Sometimes it can happen honestly, we get our grandmother’s china and are furious if anyone chips it or, God forbid, would drop and break it. We have given the china place of honor because of our grandmother’s memory. Without realizing, we can damage the spirit of someone in our life, because we hold more tightly to the china, than we do to the relationship. Let’s value relationships over “stuff” and keep developing a generous spirit.

Thursday
Today as we talk about developing a generous spirit, and become more loving and giving person, I want to encourage you to think about the gift of time. You may have heard it said that kids spell love, T-I-M-E, but really, everybody spells love T-I-M-E. In today’s culture, time is one of the most important things we can offer someone. To give of our time is to give of a portion of our life. Let’s look at some ways we can give time to others. By….

Getting to know you- Until you take time to know someone, you are not likely to help them.

Asking good questions- Taking time to ask deeper questions helps build relationship and show that you value the other person.

Being a good listener – Offering a listening ear can go a long way in bringing hope and help to those who are hurting.

Spending family time – Being generous in offering time to our families is an important step in giving. The urgent things in your life, may not be the most important.

Sacrificing time- You are the only one who can decide how to invest your time. If we have our hearts set on giving, we’ll be looking for opportunities where we can give the gift of time to someone else.

So look at your schedule, look at the priorities in your life, look to the big picture, and make some changes if you need to. The next thing to look at is what are your time wasters? Are there things that just drain your precious time that you could eliminate? You can probably think of a few right off the bat. You can’t say your kids or your spouses!!! They are worth your time! Think of things that pull you away from those important people in your life. Could it be the phone, the tv, the computer, or video games? If you log the time you spend on these daily, you might be surprised on how much extra time you might find to go kick the soccer ball with your son, play cards with your kids, or take your spouse on a date. Don’t forget how important giving of time is to the quality of your “love” life. Let’s make generosity with time a way of life!

Friday
Today we are going to look at generosity in a different light. When we think of generous, we usually think of money, but we can show love by being generous with our abilities. The fingerprint of God is in your life, and God has gifted each of us with talents and abilities that He wants us to use to bless others. We can look to the big picture and see that the purpose he gifted us how he did is so that we can build the kingdom of God. His expression of love in you, can be your expression of love to the world! So what is it that you are gifted at? What are you good at, and what do you like to do? You can be generous with your gifts you give to others. I get to see it all the time in a church setting where people give of their time and volunteer to minister to others….from greeters, to ushers, to altar workers, to the hospitality team, to the interns, to the Bible Study and Life development class leaders, to the children’s workers, to the office volunteers, to the grounds maintenance. There are people that give hours each week to make everything that happens in church run smoothly. They are using their gifts and abilities, to bless others, and to bless the kingdom of God. That is an act of generosity. What happens as we do that, wherever we give our time, is that we experience satisfaction. When we realize we are called to love, we can find ways to use our abilities, beyond the context of our job. To find the best fit in the secular world for a job, often begins with finding your God given abilities and then funneling them into a career. Then we can use what we are gifted at, not only to earn a living, but to bless the world! Your generosity can go way beyond your job. How can you be generous with your abilities? What can you do? Can you read to children or the elderly? Can you help single men learn to cook? Can you rake leaves? Can you organize a tornado? Can you……fill in the blank! We all can be generous with our abilities and show love as a way of life.

Saturday Eword for Kids
Whenever I think of the most loving and giving person I know, I can’t help but think of God himself. What a big, huge, amazing giver He is! Because He is Love, His whole nature is to give. Giving and loving definitely go hand in hand. As we look at generosity this week, I want you to consider ways that you can give of yourself to others. Generosity involves money, but it is much more than just money. Generosity is giving your attention, your time, your abilities, your compassion, or your money freely to those around you.

Generosity is a demonstration of love.

Money is a part of your life, and will become even more so as you get older. Your job as an adult will be about making money to provide for your needs.
Here are some questions for you:
How do you earn money now?
Do you mow grass, rake leaves, or do chores?
How do you spend the money that you do make?
Have you decided to be a tither even as kid?

That is when I started, and it was a habit I developed that I have continued throughout my life.
Can you be more generous? We all can! Find ways to be a giver all the time. You can start simple by giving your brother the bigger piece of pizza.

Can you help others with your generosity? It helps others, but it helps you too! That’s the best part of generosity. It blesses you more than anybody! So determine to be like God, and be a great, big, amazing giver!

Sunday
When it comes to generous living, giving of actual money is a very important element. God set up the system so that we live under the umbrella of blessing when we give back to him from what he has given us. It is called the law of sowing and reaping, or the principle of the farm, or the seed. What you sow will grow! As Christians, who have the ability to work, love calls us to invest our energies into making money so that we can provide for the needs of our families, and have more than enough to give away. How do you determine what to give away? The Bible makes it very clear that the tithe, or 10% belongs to God. He gets the cream off the top, and we should order our lives to give that first. Our expenditures should never exceed our income, after we have given our tithe and offerings, and put away a percentage for saving for the future. That is not common thinking in our world. Many people live paycheck to paycheck, and then put on credit cards whatever extra they need. That is part of the reason the world is in the financial mess it is today. As Christians, let’s be good stewards. Let’s give God what is his, and use the rest wisely. If we want the ability to be generous with our money, we must be good stewards! We must make decisions based on Godly priorities. When it comes to actually making a decision of where to sow your offering (remember the tithe goes to the storehouse – so 10% goes to your church- the offering is above the tithe), here are some simple criteria. Because there are so many good causes you can give to, think big picture. Here are two really good questions to ask. 1) Is the organization I am giving to based on Christian principles? 2) Do they use any of the money I give to support things I don’t believe in? When we answer these questions we can give generously to those who really will benefit from our gifts. We can increase in our generosity and make love a way of life.