Wednesday, 21 May 2008
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Small sacrifice
Some women are into clothes and shoes but my weakness is food and drink. =\ If I could eat out everyday I definitely would. Working in NYC, there are thousands of good places to eat within 10 blocks of my office either direction. I try to stay within the confines of our budget but "dining out" is easily the most abused section. With the recent disasters in China and Myanmar, my church had a special offering last Sunday. Our pastor encouraged us to make a sacrificial offering. He said, "giving should hurt to be considered a sacrifice."
I felt challenged by his message and realized that the offering I was planning on giving really wasn't much of a sacrifice at all, not even the least bit hurtful to my wallet or life. After some thought mr. dandelion (my hubs) and I decided to increase the amount we were planning to give. When we reviewed our budget to see what we could free up to increase our offering, the only place was my eating out budget.
I decided to suck it up and sacrifice eating out for a week. For some this isn't a big deal but for me this is the hardest thing to give up.
I'm on day 3 now and I have to admit it's hard to say no to the boba tea, cupcake and coffee runs my coworkers make throughout the day. I also realized this isn't just a budget issue but time as well because it takes alot more time to pack lunch and dinner for work. However, it feels good to be doing something for a good cause. I'll let you know if I still feel this way at end of the week.
What would be the hardest thing for you to give up?
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Comments (5)
There is joy in making sacrifices for others. Knowing that other people appreciate every single help they could get during calamities is reward itself.
Spending money in a proper way is a difficult task, at least for me ....It's easy for me to throw money into entertainment and personal stuff but difficult to spend a little on meaningful thing like donation > < What a hell
I started to disagree with your pastor... but perhaps there is some truth to what he said.
1) Didn't God say he likes a cheerful giver? ---> "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for GOD loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)
2) guilt = the opposite of love. Would God want people to give out of guilt?
3) I think there is a balance in this. He's more concerned about your heart for HIM, than the size of your wallet. If God has given you a passion for helping His people in a certain way, it might not be in the area of giving money. However - if you feel the nudging of the Holy Spirit to give, He may give you the joy after giving.
4) I think it involves a huge amount of TRUSTING God to provide. I imagine God might not think fast food is a necessity - so I don't know if He would go and provide what you would have spent eating out -- but I know he could.
5) I imagine, knowing that He loves you - that you are His child -- and knowing that He would want you to give to others who are in need, who have none (or who may die if they don't receive) show that desire to please your father, and that you want to help further His work. However, we can't be trapped by the lie that we can do anything that would make Him love us more or less. And we sometimes feel that WE are the ones who can actually make things possible -- I believe we can only yield to the nudging of the Holy Spirit - I do think God is going to call us to do things are uncomfortable sometimes. But we can't believe that the world's salvation lies in OUR hands.... it's His work - not ours. And perhaps He won't always simply give us that joy - especially when we are closely tied to the things of this world... but I know the more we know Him, the more we seek to be like Him, that He can change us - so perhaps He will give the giver a cheerful heart eventually too.
Ultimately, I think there's a huge balance in most things in life. I pray that God will direct you in your giving now (and in the future). I am still figuring out a lot of things in this area myself.
@Ezekiel36_33to36@xanga - I'm so sorry for replying to your comment so late. I agree with your comment and definitely feel you about being a cheerful giver. I am usually a very cheerful giver but I realized that spending money on food was a part of my finances that really had gotten out of control.
When I thought of ways to cut back so that I could give a larger offering for the cyclone/earthquake victims I was shocked that I didn't want to give up my food budget to help people that truly are in need. =\ I realized that I really needed to give Him this area of my life.
I should have done a followup post to this one. I learned a lot from that week. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment and sharing with me. =) Have a blessed week!