I’m trying an experiment. It’s a stretch for me. I hope it stretches our family. It’s about giving.
In these last two months of the year, four of six family birthdays happen. Plus shoebox packing (Operation Christmas Child). Plus Thanksgiving. And Christmas. And three more birthdays for extended family. It’s a busy crazy couple of months, but even though it feels like we “give” all the time, I don’t think we have done a great job really making giving a priority or helping my kids understand what it’s really about and why we need to do it.
SO, I’m trying an experiment. I’m writing an eight-week “curriculum” to walk my family through the importance of giving, the biblical significance of giving, and practical ways to give. I have no idea how it’s going to go, really. I’m not even sure I’ll manage to get all eight weeks totally mapped out. But I have Week 1 pretty much ready to go. So we will just have to dive in and see what happens.
Wish us luck!
(Oh, and here’s an example, in case you wondered…)
Day 2: Giving Selflessly
Big Idea: To give anything, you have to give something else up.
Think about it: Giving always means giving up. You cannot give your dessert to your brother unless you go without. To spend time with you, I have to give up time on my phone or computer. To give someone $25, we can’t also use that money to buy groceries.
But we do not like to give up. We like to get. We do not like to sacrifice. We like to receive. But we cannot ever give without giving up something we have (time, money, stuff, words). We cannot keep and give at the same time.
Question: Do you like it when someone gives up something for you? (For example: Do you like mommy to do a chore later so she can play with you now?) How does that make you feel?
Question: Is it hard to give up what is yours to give to someone else? Do you like to do it?
Giving selflessly means putting someone else before you. Your family, friends, strangers, even God become more important that getting what you want. Giving Selflessly always makes you feel good inside. And even better, when you give up what is yours to give to someone else, it makes Jesus happy.
Question: What did Jesus give up for you?
Daily To-Do:
- List some things you can give up for someone else this week.
- Put something in the donation box right now to practice giving up something for someone else.
