Give Until It Hurts?

Tis the season of giving. Giving presents. Giving money to charities. Giving of your tithes and offerings and a bit more. Giving of your precious time and talents as a volunteer.

How much should we give of our money, our time, our hearts, our patience, ourselves? Until it hurts? Is that the best measure because it has pushed us out of our comfort zone? I'm considering that that is not enough or not the correct amount. By stopping at that point, I think we greatly risk wanting to revert back to the place that was more comfortable. What if we pushed past the point of it simply hurting and to the place where we finally let go of it all? What if we realized that everything we have and are doesn't really belong to us but to God? Once we get through the pain and fear and panic of not being in control of what we believe rightly belongs to us, we can more fully be open to receive God's more than abundant blessings and provisions. And joy! And peace which surpasses our understanding. 

It is necessary to have wisdom about which things to give ourselves and our resources to. Knowing when to say no, so you have the ability to say yes to the right things, is key. This is different for everyone. We need to listen with our hearts and when we feel the tug to say yes, we need to lean in and give abundantly. 

I know many people have had the joy of  receiving God's blessings when they allowed themselves to be for awhile in that hard place of offering themselves, their time and gifts even when it was difficult. First Pres recently did an issue of their First Pres Times on the Street Meal. The testimony of many of the regular volunteers was of simply being willing to show up and give of their time and energy, even though they felt uncomfortable in the beginning. Their willingness to feel awkward turned eventually into an experience of being blessed themselves by the people they are serving. It's the upside down message found time and again in scripture, by giving we receive. And not in the quid pro quo sort of way of "I'll give you a present and you'll give me one". This sort of giving has the ability to transform us and what we receive in return has more value than what we thought we gave.