God's Spurgeons

How can I give with a cheerful and grateful heart?

Would a paradigm shift in mindset be required?

What? A pair of dimes?

No. Paradigm. It is like brushing your teeth with your left hand when you have been doing so with your right all this while.

It sounds awkward!

No. It is awfully uncomfortable! And it takes getting used to. How this always reminds me of repentance: changing the way I think. And how it always makes me wonder if this is what is meant by working out my salvation with fear and trembling. That is, doing things I am not accustomed to doing or in a way so out of line with my habits.

Anyway, as it is with the brushing analogy, so it is with giving.

You know I have always been a giver, albeit selectively. Those who failed to take advantage of me have labeled me mercilessly. But what the heck, I do not owe them a living and neither them, me.

But my giving had thus far been rooted in the pride of having done a good deed; giving something that is of mine out of sympathy for the less fortunate. It does sound like filthy rags as described by our big brother Jesus, doesn’t it?

But is it not that what giving is all about?

If that is true, I can understand the cheerful part because nobody forced me to give. And it makes me happy. But what about the grateful part? Why should I feel grateful for giving? Should it not be the job of the ones receiving?

Well, you should be grateful you have more than enough to give?

That could be one reason. But a thought came to my mind yesterday.

Suppose I have a windfall of $4 million and God asked me to give $1 million to someone in need. Would you struggle with that?

Of course lah! One cool million you know? Not peanuts leh! No way am I going to do that!

But suppose God says that He wants to bless someone with a million dollars through my hands. And He says for doing that for Him, He is giving me $3 million. How does that sound to you? Deal or no deal?

Deal! And what a bloody good deal! How I wish God would ask me to do that all the time!

So that would cause you to give with a cheerful and grateful heart?

I will paint the town red man!

Can you see how a difference in perception can do? The first instance is one of giving what I perceived is mine. The latter is one of being blessed for doing what God wants done.

Hey, I think you are going nuts these days. And I do not really care how I perceive it so long as I get my freaking $3 million!

Then what about the tithing part? Should not we give 10% of the$3 million to God?

Err, God is so rich. He would not need your lousy $300k one lah. Anyway, why not place it in fixed deposit and then tithe 10% of the interest earned?

But did not God say we should not rob Him by not tithing? And did He not say when we tithe He would open the windows of heaven and pour out so many blessings that we would not have enough room to receive them?

Well, with the $3 million, I think I can last quite a while. When I need the blessings then I tithe lah!

And suppose God had given us this money for us to practice tithing, would it not be the same as Him blessing us with $2.7 million for doing what He wants done? Would it not be a bloody good deal too?

But I can do a lot of things with $300k you know? Anyway, this is just hypothetical. We talk about it when it is a reality lah.

Hmm, is this how we can give with a cheerful and grateful heart? I wonder.