Godly Giving

Yesterday I saw an inspirational Hallmark movie, Beyond the Blackboard. It was about the lengths a young teacher went to for her deprived students. After she had made great sacrifices for one student the girl's parent selfishly took her out of school and into a homeless situation. When the teacher protested to her principal and threatened to quit he said, "You just keep giving. No matter what they do with it, you just keep giving."

That made me remember the first time I learned that principle. I was feeling like God had set His seal of approval on me just because He chose me to be a part of His grace to someone. It never occurred to me that He wanted to teach me to give like He does.

In 1973 my husband opened his own cotton office and soon began to make more money than we needed every month. Until then, we had been the ones receiving God's provision, but now He called us to be givers. One of the first things that happened was that we moved out of a nice-sized house where there was no place for the kids' friends to visit and found a new house that gave us the room we needed for our teenagers. As we were moving my husband told me he had rented our old house rather than sold it. A young couple from our church who had three very young children needed a home. "They can't afford all of the monthly payment we had so I'm making up the difference between what they can pay and our mortgage," he added.

A few months later, during my morning prayer time the Lord told me to give the couple a certain amount of money for their living room furniture. I was excited to take the gift but as I considered it I thought, "I need to take Jeri the name and number of the man who just re-upholstered my furniture. For this amount of money, he could make her couch and two chairs look like new!"

When I delivered the check, I explained in detail how she could have a new living room. Jeri seemed very grateful and receptive and I was elated as I left. I could see a lovely, finished room in my mind! A few weeks later, she invited me to come see.

It was all I could do not to blurt my disapproval! Jeri had trashed all of her living room furniture. A lone sectional sofa and TV now sat in the space. It was not only cold and stark but ugly, I thought. I really tried not to show what I was thinking while Jeri thanked me for the gift that enabled her to get what she wanted for her home.

Like the teacher, I felt betrayed, disrespected and abused. "Look what she did! Now her living room looks worse than before," I wailed once I was in the car. The Lord began to explain how godly giving was giving without strings...any strings. As Jesus' death and blood was given for us without strings or pressure of any kind, so are all gifts of grace. In the end, I saw God had only asked me to give a certain amount of money for Jeri's living room everything else had been my idea.

Each time God calls I make a choice to give again with no strings, no pressure. How a gift is used is not my business and since I'm only participating in Jesus' grace to someone there's no gratitude due me. But I've got to say, the blessing that floods over me is always so fulfilling I can't help but wonder who got the best of it, the one I gave to or me?

(I made up the name, Jeri.)