THE JOY OF GIVING

The many gifts committed in campaigns of this nature have varied both in type and value. It is not, however, the gift that matters to our Lord, but rather the sacrifices that it represents. Sacrifice will reflect a myriad of avenues for all people. No one but God can precisely define it for you, and even as Christians, we cannot receive guidance regarding our own sacrifice without fervent prayer and an understanding of what it involves. Paul, in the eighth chapter of his second letter to the Corinthians, tells how the Macedonians first gave themselves to the Lord and then unto others. From this passage, we see that true sacrifice is giving out of our substance rather than from our surplus. It is the rearranging of our lifestyles. It is the changing of our priorities. It will impact our lives in some way. But once sacrifice is real to us, we can rejoice, as did the Macedonians, in the spirit of our Lord through the joy of giving!