Giving.

"The Lord loveth a cheerful giver. He also accepteth from a grouch."

-George Matthew Adams

"We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give."

-Duane Hulse

"The world is full of two kinds of people, the givers and the takers. The takers eat well--but the givers sleep well."

-Modern Maturity

"No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave."

-Calvin Coolidge

"I have left a legacy of shame . . . "

-Bernard Madoff

"It is possible to give freely and become more wealthy, but those who are stingy will lose everything."

-Proverbs 11:24 NLT

Have you ever stopped to think that Christ never gave anyone money? The riches of the world were his for the taking, and his to give away, yet when the poor and hungry came to him, he didn't give them money, and he rarely gave them food; he gave them love and service and the greatest gift of all--himself.

"It is possible to give freely and become wealthy, but those who are stingy will lose everything." As we look at this verse, let's not focus on money but on giving. Most of the time when we see a verse like this we immediately think about money. There are things we can give other than money. We can give time, encouragement, love, food, friendship, service, and even ourselves.

Verse 25 gives us another reminder of the blessings of generosity, "The generous prosper and are satisfied; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed." Here again the focus is not money but on giving and generosity.

"Remember this--a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say,

"'Godly people give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will never be forgotten.'

"For God is the one who gives seed to the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will give you many opportunities to do good, and he will produce a great harvest of generosity in you" (2 Corinthians 9:6-10).

According to the Law of Sowing and Reaping, when a farmer plants corn, he harvests corn, he harvests later, and he harvests more. We reap what we plant, after we plant, and more than we plant. Makes sense, doesn't it? It's easy to see, in the economy of the Father, how "It is possible to give freely and become wealthy."

Look at the rest of that verse, " . . . but those who are stingy will lose everything." That's frightening, isn't it? You would think that those who are stingy would hoard all their riches and have an abundance of wealth. That's not the case however. Look at Mr. Bernard Madoff in the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina. He had it all and I do mean all!

$17 million in cash!

$45 million in municipal bonds!

$2.6 million in jewelry!

$39,000 Steinway piano!

$65,000 in silverware!

$11 million home in Palm Beach, Florida!

$7 million Upper East Side penthouse!

$3 million home in Montauk, New York!

$1 million villa in Cap d' in southeastern France!

$10 million for three boats!

$7 million Leopard yacht!

$2.2 million fishing boat in Florida!

Four cars, including a BMW and two Mercedes!

Now accused of the biggest and most brazen investment fraud on Wall Street, Bernard Madoff, has been sentenced to 150 years in prison and ordered to repay $170 billion dollars to some of the 4,800 clients who trusted him. With assets of $826 million, he'll have a hard time paying back $170 billion. Obviously $826 million was not enough to make him happy either. You would think it would have but, for some reason, this stingy, greedy man wanted more and more and more . . . " . . . but those who are stingy will lose everything."

Mr. Bernard Madoff recently summed up his life like this, "I have left a legacy of shame--as some of my victims have pointed out--to my children and grandchildren." A legacy of shame. How sad. A man who could have given freely but kept it all now has lost it all and has nothing. Someone said he went from the "penthouse to the outhouse."

Before he was sentenced, Bernard Madoff offered this apology, "I cannot offer you an excuse for my behavior. How do you excuse betraying thousands of investors who entrusted me with their life savings?" Thousands of people have lost their entire life savings and some have even committed suicide. Mr. Madoff has lost it all--everything. Even his name. He is now inmate No.61727-054. Just a number.

Jesus said, "If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving--large or small--it will be used to measure what is given back to you" (Luke 6:38).

Don't you love what God said in 2 Corinthians 9:10? ". . . he will give you many opportunities to do good, and he will produce a great harvest of generosity in you." Let's not look for a great harvest for us but let's look for those many opportunities to do good and a great harvest of generosity in us. We certainly cannot out-give God.

Let's try!