The Power of Giving

It is sometimes hard to explain to someone who have no experience of what you’re saying.

How do you explain to your rich friend the value of money? 1 Pound for them is just tips, 1 Pound to some is already a meal; 10 Pounds to them is a simple meal, 10 Pounds to some is few day’s allowance; 50 Pounds to them is daily outing pocket money, 50 Pounds to some we can throw a party for 20; 100 Pounds to them is preparation money to go for a fancy dinner, 100 Pounds to some is sponsoring a compassion kid for 5 months.

I once came across this incident where one of the adult asking for a free place to stay overnight for the kids in his church during a church outing. The people incharged of the accommodation looked at him in a way and said, “but its only RM12 per night, its so cheap, why so calculative?”. Yes, RM12 to some is nothing(might not be enough for their one meal), but think again, if you’re from a rural area, RM 12 is what you use to eat for your whole week. And that amount of money times by the number of kids you‘re bringing, it is a lot. (But long story short, thankfully, they had place to stay for free that night - we need more understanding people around.)

It is hard to explain to people who have never been through a day without food. Our worries are sometimes, what should I have for dinner, what dessert will be better? But to some poorer people, their father’s worries are “how am I going to put food on the table?”, “how am I going to tell my kids that we have nothing for dinner today”.

When you look at kids from different family background, you will be able to see how the value things. Some kids are from a rather rich family background, they are very picky of what they put into their mouth, they waste food like there’s oversupply of food everywhere they go. Look again, when you give a proper meal to a hungry poor kid, look at the joy on their face, look at the willingness of them to share what little they have with their family and friends around, look at the gratefulness on their faces.

We need not be extremely rich to give, but start giving, even with the little. Maybe to some rich people what you’re giving is nothing at all, but remember that it matters to those who are receiving. Don’t compare with your neighbor what you are giving, but give out of love, give because you care and give because it will make a difference.

“Those who sow sparingly will reap sparingly and those who sow generously will reap generously.”

Give while we are able, give while we can, give while people are still able to receive.

It is the same, hard to explain to someone who have never feel love the true meaning of love. I’m not talking about the fairy tale love at first sight, this love is where someone will come willingly to chat with you, someone randomly out of the blues treat you a meal, someone passing by smiling to you, someone that you see daily just asking you about your day, a steady handshake, a warm hug from your friends. Do these unto others for it makes a difference, a very big difference to some.

My friend once asked me, what is your dream. I simply answered that I want to be very rich. Why? People might view this answer as a selfish, greedy, without much aim answer. But i want it because I have seen what money can do, how life have changed, what difference we can make. We human do not need a lot for ourselves, having the basic necessities and perhaps a few good meals once in a while is more than enough. This is one of the reasons that we have to work smart and be rich, so that we will not say, “if only I had the money”. Money if handled carefully performs miracles so wonderful.

We are living in this world, not alone, but with the companions of millions, many that we are able to reach out to but still not know them. But think about this, how much joy is it when you can see the smile on others when you yourself are smiling. How precious is their laughter, how simple is their heart.

We ought to be thankful, learn to love, willing to give and expect nothing in return, for the treasures in heaven is much more valuable than what we have now. THE POWER OF GIVING IS GREAT. And it brings more joy to the giver than the receiver.