Give Til It Hurts

LOVE IS SACRIFICIAL ACTION

Do you love what you do?  Does your business, your primary occupation, or your primary focus each day bring you joy, peace and satisfaction?
 
Kind of a strange topic to consider for The Weekly Trio which is about 30/60/100 fold increase - but in fact, it is at the core of what your business and life should be about.
  
Today’s message is pretty simple.  To find more love, peace, joy and satisfaction in what you do - find more ways to give those very things away!  You see the farmer knows that he must be willing to plant seed of the very thing which he wants more of - he must render that seed useless for any other purpose except to grow into more.   Want more money - you will have to give away (plant money seed); want more time - you will have to give away some of your time (plant time seed); want more friends - you will have to be a better friend!
 
When was the last time you gave all you had, so someone else could get what they wanted?  Look for opportunities to meet the need and desire of someone else (your customer, your employee, your vendor, your competitor) even if it costs you all you have in the moment.
 
The Waitress’ Tip
When an ice cream sundae cost much less than it does today; a boy entered a coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?”  - the boy politely asked.  “Fifty cents,” replied the waitress. 
 
The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it. “How much is a dish of plain ice cream?” he inquired.
 
Some people were now waiting for a table, and the waitress was impatient. “Thirty-five cents,” she said angrily.  The little boy again counted the coins. “I’ll have the plain ice cream.” 
 
The waitress brought the ice cream and walked away. The boy finished, paid the cashier, and departed.  When the waitress came back, she swallowed hard at what she saw. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies-her tip.
 
Love is Sacrificial Action!
With Father’s Day right around the corner — a Dad took his daughter, Helen (eight years old) and son, Brandon (five years old) to the Cloverleaf Mall in Hattiesburg to do a little shopping.  Here is the Dad’s story in his own words:
 
“As we drove up, we spotted a Peterbilt eighteen-wheeler parked with a big sign on it that said, “Petting Zoo.” The kids jumped up in a rush and asked, “Daddy, Daddy. Can we go? Please. Please. Can we go?”  “Sure,” I said, flipping them both a quarter before walking into Sears. They bolted away, and I felt free to take my time looking for a scroll saw.
 
A petting zoo consists of a portable fence erected in the mall with about six inches of sawdust and a hundred little furry baby animals of all kinds. Kids pay their money and stay in the enclosure enraptured with the squirmy little critters while their moms and dads shop.
 
A few minutes later, I turned around and saw Helen walking along behind me. I was shocked to see she preferred the hardware department to the petting zoo. Plus, I thought the children had to wait till the parents came to pick them up. I bent down and asked what was wrong.
 
She looked up at me with those giant limpid brown eyes and said sadly, “Well, Daddy, it cost fifty cents. So, I gave Brandon my quarter.” Then she said the most beautiful thing I ever heard. She repeated the family motto. The family motto is in “Love is Action!”
 
She had given Brandon her quarter, and no one loves cuddly furry creatures more than Helen. She had watched both me and my wife do and say “Love is Action!” for years around the house. She had heard and seen “Love is Action,” and now she had incorporated it into her little lifestyle. It had become part of her.

What do you think I did? Well, not what you might think. First, we went back to the Petting Zoo, since Brandon was by himself. We stood by the fence and watched Brandon go crazy petting and feeding the animals. Helen stood with her hands and chin resting on the fence and just watched Brandon. I had fifty cents burning a hole in my pocket; I never offered it to Helen, and she never asked for it.
 
Because she knew the whole family motto. It’s not “Love is Action.” It’s “Love is SACRIFICIAL Action!” Love always pays a price. Love always costs something. Love is expensive. When you love, benefits accrue to another’s account. Love is for you, not for me. Love gives; it doesn’t grab. Helen gave her quarter to Brandon and wanted to follow through with her lesson. She knew she had to taste the sacrifice. She wanted to experience that total family motto. Love is sacrificial action.  

DAILY PRAYER  
Father, help us to give sacrificially, to give all, to give cheerfully, to give without expecting a return, and to know that your promises and blessings will serve both those that receive and those that give.  In Jesus name, Amen.

When was the last time you denied a desire of your heart (or at least a desire of your flesh in the moment) to be able to deliver on the need or desire of someone else?  Practice sacrificially giving and see it you aren’t blessed beyond all that you could ask or think!
 
Grace and peace multiplied to you.