Teach us to give and not count the cost...

Teach Us to Give and Not Count The Cost

Talk about a challenge. Hey, give and don't think about it. "But, that $5 could have bought me a coffee and a muffin!" When we give we are taking from ourselves. That is how some people think of it. But another way to look at it is this: we are avoiding the temptation of excess.

When we give we don't have the money that would tempt you to trade your iPhone3 for an iPhone4 and therefore are able to focus on helping those less fortunate than ourselves and there are lots of people that are less fortunate than us. You don't believe me. Go here: http://www.globalrichlist.com/. You will be amazed at how wealthy you are in the world.

When we give selflessly, we truly are imitating Christ. He didn't get on the cross and say, "God I will die only if people are really good." or "I am only forgiving the sins of those that really, really like me." No, Jesus forgave us all, regardless of how good or poor of a person we are.

Think of these stats:

$8 could buy you 15 organic apples OR 25 fruit trees for farmers in Honduras to grow and sell fruit at their local market.

$30 could buy you two DVDs OR a First Aid kit for a village in Haiti.

$73 could buy you a new mobile phone OR a new mobile health clinic to care for AIDS orphans in Uganda.

$2400 could buy you a 64" High Definition TV OR schooling for an entire generation of school children in an Angolan village.

Money is often wasted on luxury. But often we don't think of luxury as luxury, instead we think of it as necessity. We don't need a cell phone, but we convince ourselves we do. We don't need a 64" TV (HD or not), but we convince ourselves that we have to have it. We don't need an iPod or iPad, but we convince ourselves we do. Now that is not to say that you can't enjoy a luxury, but think about whether or not it is worth it. I read in the news the other day that thousands of people bought an iPhone when Verizon released it. Now they are all planning on getting the new one due out in November. Do they need it? No. But they convince themselves they do. And we saw above what that money could have been used for.

Give and don't count the cost.