give some of your treasure
Our first thought when it comes to generosity always goes to money. Many in the church give a tithe of our income, but is that where giving stops? Giving to the church should only be the start. There are plenty of people in our city that are struggling. How can you give some of your treasure? Maybe it looks like supporting a local food bank. Maybe it looks like finding someone who hasn't eaten today and paying for them to have food. What if you paid for the groceries of a single mom next week? Jesus said where our treasure is, our heart will be. Let's have a heart for the church and our community.
Give some of your talent
We often assume that talent only relates to playing an instrument, juggling, or performing a back handspring. Those are great talents to have, but there are so many more things out there we can use. This week one of our guys was retelling the story how he met his neighbor. His neighbor is 20 years younger and really looks up to him because he's handy. The last few weeks they've been changing oil, simple home maintenance and more. This middle-aged gentleman is being generous with his talent. As a result he's mentoring a young man he just met. Maybe you can affect your neighborhood just by going out to love and encourage your neighbors. Maybe you're the kind of person who is good at orchestrating and gathering people of different talents to do a great thing in your community. When you know what you're capable of, you can begin to share that talent with others.
Give some of your time
This sounds so simple, but sometimes giving our time is the most difficult thing to give. You've probably had a busy week. Things have not gone the way you had hoped and you've been playing catch up since Monday morning. During those kinds of weeks we long to have some ME time, but it's during those times that we often turn off the issues that others around us are experiencing. Maybe you have people that are asking for some of your treasure, or some of your talent, but there are plenty of people out there that just want some of your time. Be willing to give someone your ear. Be willing to give someone your Saturday morning. You'd be amazed how many people are starving for relationship and community.
Sometimes we are guilty of telling ourselves we'd be more generous if we had more time, talent or treasure. We look at someone and tell ourselves if we were in their shoes things would be different. The hard truth is many of us do have more time, talent and treasure than those we come into contact with. Let's not wait until we've got everything worked out to be generous. Start today.