season of giving

For He so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son...

as we approach this wonderful season to celebrate the birth of our Saviour, I would like to talk about giving.

yes. giving.

(there's a sermon based on that verse alone, but that's for another day;)

first of all, let us explore the world view on giving. giving is not an inborn nature in all of us. the world views giving and taking as a zero-sum game. you take and give in equal measures.
but the natural tendency is always to take more than you give, so that you will gain at the expense of another party.
our resource (time, money, energy etc) is finite; if someone GAINS, someone else must LOSE
that is why in business, you have profit and loss. you must make profit to be sustainable. in other words, don't "give" more than you "take".

but God is INFINITE.

His love is infinite. To God, giving is more blessed than receiving. Giving creates a win-win situation. Our normal reaction to God sending Jesus to die on the cross is "God must have "lost" a lot in this "transaction"..."
To God, He never sees it as a loss. Jesus died for our sins, but He was resurrected on the third day and is now seated at the right hand of the Father.
His sacrifice gave us a chance to be reconciled back to our Father and live an abundant and successful life with God again.

We won. He wins.

Why am i sharing something that seems suited for Easter?

This is because He is the reason for this Season. The birth of Christ is really about celebrating a season of GIVING.

He was born so that generations to come can be reconciled once again to our Father.

once again, dear friends, give. give of yourself to others, be it in terms of money, time or energy. do not be so self-centered and measure everything in terms of profit/loss.

think like Him. every situation becomes a win-win situation. let His will be done in our lives, not our own selfish wills.
in business, if you make the customers happy (going the extra mile, definitely not easy i tell you), they will come back again and again.
in family and relationships, sow of your time, energy and finances. yes. money.
remember Abraham and Lot? Abraham was kind and gracious, even when Lot was demanding and calculative. "I want that better portion of land...you can have the trash"
we'ld say, "No, you take the bad, i take the good!"
Abraham said, "sure, go ahead!"
God said, "well done, Abraham my son. I will bless your possessions and multiply your descendants."

...that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have life everlasting.

Merry Christmas!