Now! Living bold – Entry 10: Give

You will never understand faith until you realize that you are not the center of the universe. Contentment will never arrive at your doorstep as long as you are worried about how things will turn out for you… stop being selfish.

What in the world ever possessed us to think that happiness comes when we are satisfied with where we are and what we have? I’ll tell you what possessed us… evil. And here’s a newsflash… we’re still possessed.

If you’ve ever thought, “If I just knew God’s will for my life, I would be happy and content!” Listen to me closely… it ain’t about you. Read the previous phrase again and determine who the focus is on.

Every Christmas as a child, I was so wrapped up in what the gifts were going to be that I could hardly wait for Christmas morning. I would spend hours in front of the tree staring at and shaking presents… trying to guess what they were. The anticipation was amazing and waiting was almost more than I could bear. These days… I’m really not all that concerned whether or not I get a gift. Don’t get me wrong… I like my toys, but my true joy comes from sitting and watching my daughter’s eyes when she opens her gifts. I love it when my wife opens a gift and she’s totally surprised. For me… that’s joy.

Faith is like this Christmas story. When we just start figuring out that Christ Jesus died for you and me so we would not have to suffer the grasp of hell… we are amazed at the gifts God gives us. We cling to the things that come to us and we can’t wait until we get more of it. But as we start figuring out what Faith is… we slowly begin realizing that God calls us to stop taking and start giving. Our joy then shifts from receiving blessings to delivering blessings. In that delivery… we are blessed in return.

I was blessed to have gone through Hurricane Katrina’s massive devastation here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In the days, months, years after the storm, our church received over 10,000 volunteers from all 50 states and 8 different countries. We told every person “thank you and that they have blessed us.” We heard the following statement over 10,000 times from all types of people from the US and foreign countries…

“No… thank you! We came to help and be a blessing… but ended up being blessed by God far more than we could have ever expected.” Over 10,000 times we heard this… literally… it was amazing to experience.

These people were exhausted, dirty, emotionally spent… but they were euphoric over the growth of their faith. There were people who came who really didn’t care if God existed or not… thay walked away believing in Him and they changed their life. There are church congregations that go over a year without changing anyone’s life ( I wonder what their focus is on?)

Church congregations are no different. As a whole… if your church isn’t growing it’s because you’ve cloistered yourself behind concrete walls and turned your focus inward.

I see some church services growing by the thousands and they aren’t your traditional, typical looking church. The new church movements are progressive, emotional, and supercharged. People flock in and the top thing they say when they leave is, “that church really gives me what I need”. That’s great… but how is that church teaching those people to stop taking and start giving. It will be a matter of time when these mega churches start crumbling due to the “me” focus. When that happens… the media will have a fun day at the fair over the collapse. (Note to the Mega church: You’re not better… you’re just bigger. That means your job is 2 times as difficult to keep the focus off of “me” and on God.)

The last time I checked… worship of God has nothing to do with how YOU feel. Here’s a gut check… anytime you talk about God, faith, and worship… the glory better fall on God or you’re wasting your time.

Let’s drill down to the point. True joy and contentment comes when you remove yourself from the equation and start giving God and others the focus. This isn’t an easy task. You’ll have to ask God to show you where YOU are the feature act in your daily life so you can begin giving God the top billing. This doesn’t mean that you beat people over the head with a bullhorn and a brochure. Simply give God the glory for what He’s done for you and through you… be humble.

Giving doesn’t mean money. You don’t have enough money… the top 10% of America’s earners don’t have enough money… Bill Gates and Warren Buffett don’t have enough money… to out give God. There is no amount that you can give to satisfy your ache if it isn’t done as an act of worship.

God showed us what giving looks like. God’s story is full of stories that center around giving. You will never be content until you learn to give. It takes a strong person with conviction to give their time.

Are you man enough to give up something you enjoy to give time to someone who needs it? Are you man enough to shut up about your conquests in order to listen to a brother who is struggling? Are you man enough to reach out to someone who hates you in order to show them what God looks like? Are you man enough to give up a hobby so you can give yourself to your family?

Giving money is the last thing you should focus on. Giving your attention, your skills, and your talents to someone or something will leave you so amazingly fulfilled that you can’t stand it.

Do you get it? God’s will is to serve others. In doing so… you are honoring Him, loving Him, and serving Him. In return… your focus is not on you, your problems, your worries, or your ailments.

This world is desperate for men to stand up and Live Bold. Your community is desperate to for someone to stand tall with a rigid spine and take one on the chin for your brothers and sisters. Your church is desperate for someone to stand up and say… “cut it out” to those who profane God and distort His story.

Are you man enough to give yourself to this? It takes a hell of a lot of strength to pull this off and you’ll need some guys around you to make it happen.

Are you ready? How do you get started? I’ll tell you how in the next entry when we talk about… Push.

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(You are reading the blog series by Live Bold. This is a living, unedited book being written in the wide open. Follow along. If you’re getting here late, go back to the archives under the LB NOW category and start reading. Each entry is numbered in sequence. Comments are welcome and some will end up in the final published book. May God’s hand be in all we do here at Live Bold.)

About

Welcome, and thanks for dragging yourself over to Live|Bold! My name is Greg Arnold and I am pumped to see you here. This interactive online community is here to point every man toward the cross. Whether you have been a follower of Christ for ages, or you are just stumbling into this strange new world of faith, we have something of value to offer you. This online e-zine is a cross between a blog, a social network, a resource center, and a pulpit. My hope is to inspire you to live your faith on the outside and be a real man for God. We need you in the fight.