Extravagance

A sweet friend shared with me last year about a father figure in his life who would always give freely and openly to all who asked. As long as he had it, he gave it-  whoever asked, whatever they asked, he gave it. I heard his story and thought it was foolish to some extent.  How can anyone really live like that?  There are always people in need.  There is always someone asking. ALWAYS.  How is that possible?

Generous giving is something I am familiar with.  My mother was always one to give to those in need.  She was prayerful and considerate. I have learned to be a giver, and a joyful giver. I have learned the blessings of giving, and even giving when it causes me to feel the stretch of my wallet and comfort.

Unfortunately, I have to admit I have always been one to give within my moderate comfort.  In the past, I have not been one to give when it would cause me to go without.  My giving was calculated and precise.  This past year my team and I have talked a lot about the idea of living dead- dead to oneself and alive to God.  What would Je$us do is often a quote we hear, but how often do we ask ourselves that question.  What would Je$us do if someone came to the door asking for money, but giving to them meant skipping our next meal?  What would Je$us do if someone came knocking on the door needing your time and it meant not sleeping, or missing an event you had planned to go to?  I am learning to live out the go$pel in a new kind of way… a way that goes beyond giving out of what I feel comfortable giving, into giving out of what JE$US is asking of me.

This living dead attitude actually brings much life.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not talking about forsaking wisdom and the wise counsel of strategies like saving money and caring for your family, but I am talking about listening to the Holy $pirit and giving beyond the comfort of my little Western mentality and brain.  I am talking about extravagant giving.  Lavishly giving for those in need.

I am learning to live a life of extravagance... not for myself but in how I give to others.  In America, we don't live in a world where we see people with bare feet in 30 degree weather or spots on their face from malnutrition. We don't even know the meaning of what it means to give until it hurts. Here, I don’t think a week has gone by where someone hasn’t come to me asking for financial help or work to earn money. Some weeks the requests come almost daily. Some days it’s multiple times in a day.  I hear the words of my sweet friend ringing in my ears, “My dad always gives when people ask.”

I have been asking myself this questions for some time, what does it really mean to live a life of extravagance for the Kingdom?  I have started asking myself when I go to the store to buy things, who else needs this?  Who else needs eggs, who else needs milk? It changes the way I buy things, and what I spend money on. It makes me think about what is important.  What if we all bought two of everything- one for us and one for someone else? What if it was a rule... Would u really buy all u bought?

I have made it a practice that when I buy eggs, I give some to my neighbor as well. The spots on their face are a reminder to me daily of their need for more protein and nutrition.  I would rather go without eggs and see my neighbors gain health.

I have spent time in homes here where ladies give up a meal in order to feed me, or where they borrow money in order to buy me a cold drink and offer me their best hospitality. It’s humbling; not so much because they are giving out of what they don’t have, but because I realize I don’t often do the same. I don’t often give if I think I will have nothing left over. Subconsciously, I often try to figure out how to save the best for me and share only the extra.  And I realize that for years I was doing this thinking I was giving generously.  Today, I realize I wasn’t giving extravagantly.  How often do we say we can't when it's really that we don't want to because it would be difficult and stretching, or we don't feel we have the time or resources - would Jesu$ say that?

God is an extravagant giver.  He gave His only Son, His best, so we could live. If I live in this example, I see there is, yes wisdom that is needed in giving, but my heart attitude must be one of selfless love and extravagant giving.

Today I ask myself, “Who else needs this”?  When I pray, “Who else needs what I am asking God for today”? I close with this. We have heard it said, “you can’t out give God.” It’s so true. In the last year, I have given more money to others than I ever have in my life. I have donated more money to organizations and others working for the sake of the Kingdom than ever before, and all this on a budget that is significantly less than when I was working in America. The most amazing part is that I have more money in my bank account now than I have ever had before. God truly is a miracle working, amazing God. He blesses us as we give and multiples our resources for His Kingdom as we walk in obedience to the direction and leading of His Holy $pirit to live extravagantly.  Try it!