Spirit of Giving

My son was a junior in high school.  He had just returned from an away track meet.  I had given him $10 to stop at the fast food place after the track meet as was the custom.  When I asked him for the change he said, “I don’t have any”.  Of course I wanted to know why a $5-6 fast food stop had turned into $10 so I pressed him for an answer. 

He then related to me the story of a young man on the track team that came from a poor family and the boy was often hungry and never had any money to buy food after the track meets.  My son said, “Dad, how can he perform well at the track meets if he is hungry?” 

My son also went on to tell me he had been giving this boy food out of the lunch I sent him to school with and money from his lunch money so he could eat lunch.  I immediately told him not do that anymore.  I told him we would start sending extra food to school to share with him and extra money for the track meets.

I just got off the phone with a dear friend of mine that has lost his car, his job and his home.  He is basically homeless sleeping on the couch or floor at his sister’s house while he is waiting for a business opportunity to come through in San Diego.

I have been sending him enough money to buy food.  Today I got the feeling I needed to call him, as he was out of money again.  When I called him, and with a little prompting in my spirit I just knew he was out of money again because he had given what I gave to him to someone else that had a greater need!

It really touches my heart that someone with nothing will give all of the money they have to help someone else.  It really says something when people give out of their lack when most of us won’t give out of our excess.

There certainly exists a spirit of giving.  I never taught my son to take out of his own mouth to feed someone else yet he did it anyway.  I have always been giving like that but I never taught it to him.  The spirit of giving just passes down from generation to generation.  He just knew the right thing to do.

If you have a spirit of giving, you are blessed.  If you don’t have one ask God and He will give you one.  It really is better to give than to receive.