Lent Devo

Like many of you, I imagine, I have never considered myself a “taker.”  However, neither am I a “giver.”  You know the type, the ones always doing for others, selfless perhaps to a fault and maybe even to their own detriment.  No, I wasn’t like that.  I took care of my own stuff and thought others would/should do the same.  And “stuff” meant everything.

Stuff was anything emotional, physical, spiritual, economical, really everything.  I may not have thought of myself as an island but I operated as one.  I lived a conserving lifestyle, firmly believing there was only so much I could give so I’d better conserve it, guard it, make sure I had enough for me and then if there was some left over, well, I’d give that away if the opportunity presented itself although it hardly ever did.

I went about my business, self-contained, self-sufficient, self-sustaining, self-healing, self-everything, never asking any quarter nor giving any.  Neither a borrower nor a lender, I didn’t have to feel beholden to anyone, nor responsible for them either.  Denying the need and any obligation to fill it seemingly allowed me to sleep easy at night.

My philosophy, my mental construct, was that I (and others) took care of our own.  We didn’t fritter away our time or our emotional bandwidth because we needed it for ourselves.  Otherwise we could end up short at the end of the month so to speak.  We could end up relying or dependent upon someone else for whatever type of support we were lacking.  And that just wouldn’t be right, would it? 

God says otherwise.  God says that by emptying our bucket, we simultaneously fill it back up.  By giving we receive in turn, either from our fellow humans or from Him.  In fact the only real way to ensure we’re tapped out is to try and hold on to all our time, caring and resources.  So give and give extravagantly.  During Lent, take a break from the scarcity mindset.  I think you’ll find what you give away will come back to you in abundant measure, overflowing.