{"id":23171,"date":"2018-05-22T03:30:49","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T10:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=23171"},"modified":"2018-05-18T14:20:34","modified_gmt":"2018-05-18T21:20:34","slug":"may-22-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2018\/05\/22\/may-22-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"May 22, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“God loves a cheerful giver<\/em>.” 2 Corinthians 9:7<\/p>\n

Grouchy Giving<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I believe that many times when we read the above verse we think first about money. Of late, I\u2019ve had a different idea about this and recently as we studied the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30<\/em>, I thought about it again.<\/p>\n

Each one of us has spiritual gifts and talents that are to be used to give honor and glory to God and to be used in the furthering of His kingdom. Not all of us are given financial wealth as one of our talents. Years ago, I did a quiz on identifying my spiritual gifts. It confirmed to me that one of mine is the gift of hospitality. It\u2019s true that I like to feed people, as well as making them feel comfortable in my home. Having short term or long term guests in my home doesn\u2019t usually make me anxious or stressed out. If I have enough notice, I will try to make a special meal and tidy up a bit, but people who know me also know that they can call without any notice and they are welcome any time in our home. (However, they also know that if they don\u2019t give me any notice, they may get pizza for dinner!)<\/p>\n

Recently we had someone stay with us for an extended period of time. It was not the first time we have had long term guests, but this time, for some reason, it was more difficult for me to be gracious. I found myself very irritable and resentful. I think as I\u2019m getting older, I appreciate my daily routine more, as well as my peace and quiet after a long day of work.\u00a0 Although God has given me the gift of hospitality, I was being a grouchy giver. I was avoiding interaction, I was watching the calendar a little too closely to see when my \u201cassignment\u201d was going to be over. Thankfully Holy Spirit stepped in and I was convicted. I began to ask God daily to help me express my love for Him as I used the gift He had given me to love on His people.<\/p>\n

Loving people by giving and sharing often doesn\u2019t come easy. Sometimes it\u2019s not convenient. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices in order to share our gifts. How much more precious it is to our Father when we do it anyway! When we give of our money, our time, our food, our prayers\u2014any of it\u2014if we don\u2019t give with a cheerful heart, <\/strong>we have missed an opportunity to joyfully\u00a0<\/strong>give back the gift that He originally gave us. After all, He gave us the gift so that we would share it generously, and oh, how generous He has been with us.<\/p>\n

\u201cFather, thank You for giving us each unique spiritual gifts that You use to love on Your people. Help us to be more than willing to freely give back to You what You so freely gave us. We are grateful, Father, and we love You. Amen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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