From the Heart of the Giver There once was a person who gave everything he had. He did it because much had been given to him. Nothing he had was his before it was given, so he did not hesitate to give in the same way that it had been given to him. If he had believed that what he was given was his own, due to his own talents, his own strength, his own efforts, then he would have struggled to share his wealth. “But it was never mine to keep,” he thought. “So if it is not mine in the first place, how can I not give back in the same way that it was given to me?” Whether the man had a lot or had little, at any given point in time, his attitude was always the same. When he had much, he was able to give away much. When he had little, he still gave away a portion of what he had. And because he did not hold on to what he had been given—because he did not keep it all for himself—his heart was pure. He was more easily able to remember that everything he had been given, in the first place, was given to him freely, as a gift. “How could he not give in the same way that he had been given?” he asked himself. “And what if his giving encouraged more giving in others,” he thought. The gift will keep on giving, then. “It will grow and produce and spread,” he thought, “if I do not hold on to it, keeping it to myself.” It is from a pure heart of the giver that a gift multiples—its good increasing—again and again. When I speak of this to you, it is not to lecture you. For I am your Father, and I teach you many things. It is in my love that I teach, that I shepherd you, that I instruct you of what is good for you. I do this because my love for you is deep and wide and beyond measure. I don’t hold back on my love for you. I want you to understand how giving from the resources I give you is good for your heart. When you forget to give to others what you have been given, you forget Me. You forget my love for you. You forget that I have given you everything. I don’t say this to make you feel guilt. I say this because I want you to grow in your love—to receive more and more of what I have to give you. And when you give what you have been given, you are practicing the same love I give to you. You are giving from my own heart. You are becoming more and more like Me. Think of the ways I give to you—think of the ways in which I love you. I love you from an abundant love, from a love that does not skimp and worry and reserve itself for good behavior. I give because I am love. I give because it is who I am. And because you are my child—my son, my daughter, and all I have is yours, I ask you to follow Me and give in the same ways that I give: give from knowing that all that you have has been given to you. Give from knowing you are loved. Give from knowing that nothing you give to others will be wasted. For when you give with the pure heart I give you—from the place of knowing that all I have is yours, and all you have is mine—we are giving together; we are participating in the action together. And you will feel fulfilled in how you give; you will be filled with joy in what you give. For you will not be doing it alone. You will be doing it with Me. Do not forget my love for you. And my delight in fathering you. You are my child. You are the one I love. I would give everything again and again for you. And now I invite you to do the same. Practice giving from your full heart. Practice giving from what I give. Then nothing will ever be wasted. It will grow and grow and grow. Exercise: Jennifer and I just love this invitation. What it is, is an invitation into an entirely new kind of life. And it’s a challenge too, because it is not an easy thing to move into. It takes some real trust. It takes a step out into the unknown—with our heavenly dad. It’s an invitation into life where we begin to grasp the fact that everything He has is ours. Scripture says, “Long before he laid down earth’s foundations,” God chose us and “settled on us as the focus of his love.” That’s from Ephesians chapter 1. He chose you to be His beloved son, His beloved daughter. He chose me. He “predestined us for adoption to himself.” He gave us “full legal adoption as his children.” That’s from Galatians chapter 4. And “because we’re his,” wrote the apostle Paul—because we are His very own sons and daughters—we can “access everything our Father has. Let me say that again. We get everything. Because we are His, we get access to everything our Father has. It’s hard to get your mind around, isn’t it? It sure puzzled and amazed King David. Looking at everything God created, David asked: “Compared to all this cosmic glory, why would you bother with puny, mortal man or be infatuated with Adam’s sons?” (TPT, Psalm 8:4) We don’t deserve it, and it doesn’t make sense—but we get it nonetheless. God, in his outrageous love, made us—you and me—His heirs. He gives us access to everything. So, whether we see it or not, whether we’re willing to accept it or not, we live in a state of abundance—not the kind of scarcity that our world and our culture tries to convince us we live in. And so, we actually do not have to worry and scrape and compete and protect ourselves all the time—like our culture teaches us to do. Because we are His, we can access everything our Father has. So, all we need to do is just act like sons and daughters. We just need to live into our inheritance as beloved sons and daughters. We need to trust Him. Trust that He will come through for us. We need to relent and surrender into trust—knowing that we are blessed, richly, now. Knowing that we are cared for, always. Knowing that we will continue to be blessed . . . in surprising ways and perfect timing. And why? Why have we been so blessed? Well, we’re blessed so that we can do what our heavenly dad does. We are blessed so we can bless others. So we can give away, freely, what we’ve been given. So we can give knowing that we’ll always be taken care of by our heavenly dad. Paul knew it. He wrote, “I am convinced that my God will fully satisfy every need you have, for I have seen the abundant riches of glory revealed to me through the Anointed One, Jesus Christ!” That from Philippians chapter 4. King David knew it. He sang, “The Lord is my best friend and my shepherd. I always have more than enough.” Let’s go back to what Holy Spirit said just moments ago. He said: “Do not forget my love for you. And my delight in fathering you. You are my child. You are the one I love. I would give everything again and again for you. And now I invite you to do the same. Practice giving from your full heart. Practice giving from what I give. Then nothing will ever be wasted. It will grow and grow and grow.”