Lose Control

Having stuff is awesome. Especially when you worked hard to get it. The feeling of accomplishment that surrounds owning property and the attachment we hold to our money and material assets is incomparable to almost every other area of our existence. You've probably heard somebody or yourself say something like: this Xbox is my life!, this car is like my child (which I always thought was rude to their actual child), I would kill to protect this waffle maker! Okay, so maybe that last one was a stretch, but this explains why the idea of releasing our grip on our possessions is often a subject which brings fear and hostility. Due to our attitude towards materialism, God asks us to counter our nature, and become more like Him: to be generous.

The act of true giving is a practice in losing control. Godly generosity requires one to understand that everything we own comes from God, and, therefore, isn't ours to give. How ridiculous is it to believe, then, that we have any say over what happens with our money? If it's not ours what right do we have to keep our hands tightfisted, and refuse to give God a percentage back of what He's given us? The sad truth is, we have such an emotional bond with our possessions that we want complete control over them. God asks us to loosen our grip, and hand control over to Him.

The Bible gives two examples of two separate widows who had every reason to be tightfisted with what they had, yet they chose to release control over to God and our commended for it. The story we read on Sunday was about a widow who only had a few coins left, and still gave her offering to God (Luke 21:1-4, the second story is found in the contest link). Jesus commends her faith, and we our given an example of the kind of generosity that God asks of us. This woman didn't know whether she would have enough to get through the week, but she still had faith that God would provide for her and create in her a spirit which mirrored His own. This kind of open-handed mentality is the kind of generous heart that Christ wants to create in us. Jesus was the ultimate giver, He gave His life for us, and since we were created in His image, we should build a like-minded personality. Until we lose control of our finances and unclose our fists surrounding our money, we will never truly become the kind of generous giver that God wants us to be.

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Pray
That God will give you opportunities to unclose your fist, and that He will grant you a generous spirit which will drive you to give.