Giving

Okay i just had to jump in on all this talk about gifts and Christmas and the hoopla that surrounds it.
I shared before how i feel about giving and money spending. I want to share again. So if you can stomach another post about gifts and money spending, here you are.


If you know me very well you have heard me say many times that I would rather spend money on starving children in Africa then buy something, like a new couch. Not that getting a brand new couch is a sin, but for our family it is a very strong conviction to have as little as possible and to get second (third or fourth) hand things. I think that as Americans we generally spend money terribly and tend to mistake our wants with our needs and not look at the bigger picture. On the flip side, as great as always wanting to feed the poor and sick and needy sounds, I think, there can actually be a danger in it. I think Jesus really lays out a great example of the way that we spend our money and the heart behind it.
For example, the story of the woman who anointed the Lord with expensive perfume. It's not only a great story of the compassion and love of our lord, but also a great example of spending. For those of you who may not know the story or are a bit rusty I've included the passage at the bottom for you to read. My favorite part of the story is Jesus' reaction to the people present when they where commenting on how the money could of been put to better use.
"Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.
This woman came before the lord and loved on him and showed him her love the best way she could think how, by pouring expensive perfume on him and anointing him! I personally think that He felt blessed by such love and thoughtfulness. I take that passage to heart and think about how it blesses people to love on them. Yes it cost money to bring people out to dinner, it cost money to put together care packages and to send them, and that money that you spent on that one meal or care package could keep a child alive and healthy for a whole month... BUT the fact is that by spending that money and loving that person in a way you know will bless them, it's as equally a blessing as feeding a starving child in Africa. I think there needs to be a perspective, it's OKAY to spend money on people to love on them because you are being a blessing and doing something beautiful for them. Of course I'm still all for feeding starving children in Africa... but maybe the next time you have a bit of extra cash and you really want to be a blessing and serve the Lord with your finances, send an encouraging note and a small package to a friend. That is sharing Jesus love just as much as buying a meal for a hungry child. It's all in our heart and how we perceive it.

Mark 14:1-9
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
1Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. 2"But not during the Feast," they said, "or the people may riot."
3While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

4Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume? 5It could have been sold for more than a year's wages[a] and the money given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly.

6"Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."