Here Is How Giving And Forgiving Are Connected
“Giving” is the root word of “forgiving.” It’s almost safe to say they come from the same “root.”
Generosity with finances and generosity with forgiveness comes from one source: “compassion.”
Do you find it hard to give to someone in need? Does your mind give you a hundred reasons why they don’t deserve it? Do you struggle with holding on to a grudge, a bitterness, or resentment?
An open hand and an open heart go together.
Here is how to check your heart for the “compassion factor”:
What do you see when you come across a need?
I heard a tremendous message recently on the Good Samaritan. The priest and the Levite passed up the man in the ditch (obviously with good excuses). They saw him as an “interruption.”
The Samaritan, on the other hand, saw him as an “invitation.”
Which do you see? Does your heart compel you to STOP? Does your compassion overrule your excuses? Do you actually enjoy an interruption where you are privileged to be generous to someone who has been abused?
Do you live by the calculator or the blessing?
If you just look at the calculator, you will never obey the prompting of the Spirit to help another person.
Look at the blessing. God promises a blessing to those who intentionally leave their schedule, spend their hard earned money, and leave a blessing for another person.
The calculator doesn’t show the blessing. When you show favor, God sends you “blessings in all your work and in all that you undertake” (Deut. 15:10). His blessing far outpaces the calculator.
Do you often need mercy but refuse it to others?
Jesus told about a man in the Bible who owed his boss ten million dollars. Instead of sending him to prison when he could not pay, his boss generously tore up his note!
The same man went right out and threatened bodily harm to a man who owed him ten dollars and could not pay.
I don’t see myself as the “ten dollar” sinner. I see myself as the “ten million dollar” sinner. How about you?
When I become aware that I have been FORGIVEN MUCH, I automatically extend MUCH FORGIVENESS to others who have hurt me.
Do I pride myself in never being taken advantage of?
Suspicion is not a spiritual gift! I heard about one man who said he had the “gift of suspicion.” He doubted everyone’s motives. He saw a scam in every need. He found a way to blame every person with their own neglect and waste. It justified his stinginess.
The world is full of scam artists. We must be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” However, if you wait on a perfect person to help anyone in need you will never find that person!
Don’t suspect every person who asks for help. “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb. 13: 2).