It Feels Good to Give!

BY HELEN BESSENT BYRD (M.Div.’07)

Giving time is fast approaching. During the last six weeks of the year, there are several special occasions for giving and receiving gifts. These include Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanzaa. They are holidays, holy days, and special days, which are celebrated for national, religious, and cultural reasons. Except for Christmas when gifts may be large or small, the gifts on these occasions are often small and given to exhibit love for family members and friends. Additionally, many American citizens make special gifts to charities during December to reduce the taxes they will owe Internal Revenue Service on their income.

Giving and receiving gifts are occasions for demonstrating love. It is always a reciprocating process. Malachi 3:10 teaches us to give a full tithe to the Lord who will, “open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.” In the gospel of Luke, the evangelist tells us to, “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back” (6:38)

When you give from your heart to help someone in need, whether it is to a religious body or a secular organization, you help someone(s) to enjoy by making faith, food, clothes, education, and opportunity available to them. The donor also enjoys the experience. As one retired medical doctor who systematically gives to two organizations in addition to his faith group said, “It feels good to give to those in need.” The reward to the donor is the joy of giving, the satisfaction of making a difference, being a change agent for someone else.  Luke wrote in Acts 20:35, “Remembering the words of the Lord Jesus….It is better to give than to receive.”

May you experience both the good feeling of giving and the joy of receiving during the special days of giving time throughout the remainder of 2018!  Kindly remember to include gifts to Union for the education of seminarians. For tracking purposes when you give, write BAA on the line with your name if you give online and on the memo line if you send a check. “For God loves a cheerful giver” (Cor. 9:7b)!

See the website for giving opportunities. For tracking purposes, when you give write “BAA” on the line with your name if you give online, and on the memo line if you send a check.