Full Quiver Ministries

Being generous means that you are giving more than is necessary or expected. So, let’s talk about generosity. When you are generous, you are giving something away. What are you giving? Well, you can give a material item. Talking about money, for example: I can give someone money, but I can’t give more than what I have. If I only have $100.00 in my bank account, then it is impossible to give someone $1000.00. It doesn’t matter how much I want to, or how much I feel that they deserve it, I just can’t. I cannot give something away that I do not have.

If I’m looking inside of myself, the same principle applies. I cannot give away something that I do not have. If I have no compassion inside of me, I cannot give compassion away. If I’m not joyful, then I cannot give joy to someone else. I can’t be empathetic to someone else, if I’m filled with bitterness. If there’s something that we would love to give to someone and yet we do not have it ourselves, then maybe we need to see if there’s a way that we can cultivate it in our own lives. 

I have heard the scripture from Mark 12:31 that tells you to love your neighbor as yourself. I believe that many people twist this verse. I hear many people talk about how we need to treat others how we want to be treated – the old Golden Rule, and what we expect from others. But, what I think that it’s actually saying is that we need to take care of our inner worlds first, and then when we learn how to treat ourselves well, then that’s how we will treat other people. It all starts with us. We treat others, from the overflow that we have in our own lives.

When I see people mistreating those around them, that’s a clue as to what is going on in their inner world. When people don’t honor others, it’s a symptom of the fact that they do not honor who they are or who they were created to be. We need to learn how to treat ourselves. We need to listen to our hearts and our bodies and learn what they are telling us. We need to bring those into alignment with who He created us to be. I’ve heard it said, that: If we knew who He created us to be, we wouldn’t want to be anyone else. If we lived up to the potential of what we were created for, we would live out of that fullness, to the world around us. When I see someone honoring those around them, I’m looking at the fruit of what is in their life. The roots of honor have grown deep in their own life, and it’s beautiful! 

It’s way too easy to hear people demeaning others…treating them with disrespect. I’ve spent many years working in customer service and I have been yelled at way more than I was treated with kindness. Look at social media, where someone puts their heart on the line, and you’ll see people that will trample all over it. You will only honor others, to the level that you value them. We need to value others. Whatever you have within you, WILL come out. What’s going to spill out of you, when you get bumped?