Give Abundantly!

By Jim Williamson

Give Abundantly focuses on giving and sharing with others. Everything we do in life either enhances or compromises our health—whether it is your physical health, your emotional health, or your spiritual health. Our actions are either welcoming to people or they are not. The book focuses on:
• Actions that enhance our friendships and our health
• The do's and don'ts that impact the quality of our friends
• Ideas that help us move away from being selfish and ideas to help us be more giving
• Increasing our sensitivity to the second greatest commandment outlined in the Bible—"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
• Suggestions are provided for ways to demonstrate generosity and love toward others

My hope is that some of the suggestions may be used by the reader to stimulate actions that show the love that they have for other people. People understand that we love and care about them by the things that we do. At the heart of the issue is the Golden Rule. If you were in a situation that seemed hopeless, you would want someone to respond to your needs and trials. Jesus was the ultimate role model for selflessness; however, you might be the one He uses to provide for the needs of others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gatekeeper Press
• Release date: Aug 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781662902130

Jim Williamson

Jim Williamson, MA, EdS, is a member of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Findlay, Ohio. He has worked as a health practitioner, educator, and coach for more than thirty years, and he has seen how lifestyle changes are the key to obtaining optimal health.

Book preview

God.

CHAPTER 1

The Two Greatest

Commandments

Our country today is more politically and economically divided than at any time I have experienced in my lifetime. Many people seem to support only those with similar viewpoints, political beliefs, and interests. Some regard those who do not think like them with disdain. Though this state of affairs is becoming normalized in our society, Jesus’ command to love your neighbor as yourself challenges what many people practice each day.

When friends and family have beliefs that conflict with our own, some see this as a reason to disassociate from those people. Those with different views and experiences are often vilified, labeled as something lesser. When these situations manifest, individuals are in direct conflict with the two greatest commandments outlined in Scripture:

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? [Jesus] said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 22:36-40).

The condition of our hearts will determine our capacity to fulfill these greatest of commandments, to show love and generosity to others. Are we willing to show love, mercy, and compassion to others? Our actions will speak louder than our words.

Certain qualities must be present within us if we are to truly love our neighbors as ourselves. We need to understand that love requires us to do something. Love is not a passive activity. It is an active one. Acts of love are more than mere thoughts.

Acts of love require that action must be taken to demonstrate that love. We can say that we love others, but what do our actions reveal? Faith without works is dead. Love without action does not exist. James 2:17 says, Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. When we are unwilling to take action to benefit others, we have compromised our love for those around us.

We need to notice those around us before we can be generous to them. If we concern ourselves with only the things that affect ourselves or our immediate family, it is unlikely we will pay much attention to the needs and situations of the other people who surround us each day. This behavior sends a strong message—others do not matter.

To love another, a person must have compassion. When we take the attitude that others’ circumstances are not our problem, then it means we have nothing to offer anyone. A loving person has compassion for the trials and challenges faced by other people. We need compassion if we are going to extend a helping hand toward others. When we are closed off from our love for other people, we need to pray to remove the barriers that exist within our hearts.

Love will cost us something—time, resources, or both. When we understand that all we have is a blessing from God, we understand that God has given us resources that can be a blessing to others, including our time, knowledge, and materials. When we have this mindset, we embrace the belief that we are but stewards of the resources God has allowed us to have. Scripture is clear that God owns everything and that God loves a cheerful giver. Unfortunately, many people believe that their possessions, abilities, and skills are for their exclusive use. This attitude does not match what the Bible has to say about our possessions.

Love is not always easy. Sometimes we need to go out of our way to assist others. Love may temporarily inconvenience us. So why should we be willing to be inconvenienced? Because we understand the Golden Rule, which teaches us to treat others as we would like to be treated. It also teaches us that sometimes, we will be called on to help others when we had not planned to do so. Our acts of love can change someone’s day or life. When someone has a dire need, we may be the only ones who can do what needs to be done for them at that time. It may be a physical task. It may be emotional support for someone going through a tough time. It may cost us financially. If we convince ourselves that we are always too busy then we will never love our neighbors as ourselves through our actions.

Love requires sacrifice. Our loving service to others and our commitment to love others is merely a reflection of what Jesus has done for us already, nothing more. To model the godly behavior of Jesus, we must understand that we may have an important role to play in the lives of others. When we are willing to sacrifice for them, we leave an impression different from that left by the masses. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus sacrificed His blood on the cross to cover a multitude of sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Sincere love may require sacrifice.

When we begin to notice the needs of the people around us, and if we feel it is a blessing to help others, it may provoke us into action. However, if we are self-centered, the needs of others become invisible to us. Acts of love require us to move beyond self-centeredness. Sometimes, it may be appropriate to enlist other people. An example of this would be a fundraising event meant to provide for needs beyond what one person can satisfy.

Acts of love may require that we follow-up or take additional steps to assist those in need. Often, to meet the needs of others requires more than one contact. An ongoing situation may require us to offer emotional support while the people we seek to help work through a challenge or trial.

People who love others must be merciful. When we see people without the means to meet the basic needs of life while we have plenty, mercy asks that we help them meet their needs. When someone lacks adequate food, a merciful person will provide food. If someone is having a tough time and needs someone to talk to, mercy tells us to offer our time and lend our ear. Love needs to care. A person who does not care will seldom, if ever, respond to the needs of others.

Love is not partial. To care about others is to be concerned with only one thing—the presence of a need that can be satisfied. Caring does not discriminate by gender, religion, nationality, race, political affiliation, or any other quality that divides people. Love focuses on the person in need and does so with a desire to be generous to that person. We must look past their outer shell and look into their eyes, their hearts, and their circumstances.

The purpose of this book is to provide ways we can all assist others through our generosity and our love. Actions always speak louder than words. Sometimes God will put us in a place where He can use us to help another.

We may turn out to be the best-equipped person to satisfy someone else’s needs. When we are called by the Holy Spirit, the right thing to do is to help others if we can. Some ideas in this book may strike a chord with you. Some, you may already be doing. When reading this book, you may visualize other acts of love not mentioned here. Regardless, my prayer for you is that you will do your part and do what you can do to provide blessings to others. By doing so, God will be pleased and your blessing may come back to you in a pleasant surprise. May God bless your willingness and your resolve to follow through with acts of generosity and show your love for others!

We learned above that in Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus singled out the two greatest commandments: to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus offered this teaching to a Pharisee who was a lawyer. He went on to state that, On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.

The Pharisees took great pride in their meticulous observance of the Law. They knew the Ten Commandments. In addition, they paid rigorous attention to all 613 laws in the books of Moses. They attempted to reason out the implications of the laws, to make sure they avoided possible violations.

But people are more important than religious rules. People do not care how much you have or how much you know until they know how much you care. That care is demonstrated by your actions, not your thoughts. Care for others must be demonstrated in a non-judgmental manner.

The Pharisees, however, lost sight of the very heart of the matter—loving God. Without love for God, the external observance of the commandments becomes an empty form. Jesus warned of this danger in Matthew 23:25-26 when He said:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Loving God means cleansing the inside first. This is the only way that our obedience is genuine. Otherwise, even though we may appear to be righteous, our obedience is corrupted by bad motives.

Does this mean that these two commandments should replace the Ten Commandments located in Exodus 20:1-17 and in Deuteronomy 5:6-21? The short answer is no. Take a close look at the Ten Commandments:

1. You shall have no other gods.

2. You shall not make idols.

3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord.

4. Remember the Sabbath, keep it holy.

5. Honor your father and mother.

6. You shall not murder.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.

9. You shall not lie.

10. You shall not covet.

When you analyze them closely, it is apparent they are all included in the two greatest commandments that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 22:36-40. Jesus condensed the Ten Commandments into these two greatest commandments. The first four of the Ten Commandments tell us how to love God and the last six tell us how to love mankind. Although the Ten Commandments are directly related to the two greatest commandments, they have not been replaced by them.

How can we find where we are, really, in our efforts to live by these principles? Our hearts, souls, and minds are not three distinct pieces of ourselves. The heart is central, as explained in Luke 6:45: A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Everything we are and everything we have, beginning with our inner-most commitments and all our thoughts, we must devote to loving, adoring, and serving God.

The two greatest commandments, therefore, are interrelated. Is it possible to love God with all your heart and not love your neighbor as yourself? I do not believe it is possible because God is love. It is inconsistent to claim we love God if we do not love our brothers and sisters who also love Him. It is also inconsistent to claim we love God if we do not obey Him. As it says in Galatians 5:14, the two greatest commandments are inextricably connected through "agape, the most profound love, the type of love shown to us by Jesus with his sacrifice: For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The more we love God and the more we try to serve Him, the more we will love our fellowmen, and the more we will desire to serve the Lord. In John 13:34-35, Jesus says, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. Moreover, 1 John 4:8 says, He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." If we lack love for others, this is evidence that we do not honor the greatest commandment: to love God with all our hearts, all our souls, and all our minds. So, the main question is, do we love God first? The answer to this question will have a direct impact on the second greatest