Pay It Forward
Giving vs. Receiving
St. Francis of Assisi once prayed… “For it is in giving that we receive…”
Which is really interesting because we live in a world where we think that what we GET will change our lives.
But what if it’s the other way around?
What if it’s not what we GET, but what we give, that changes our lives for the better?
In 2000 a movie called Pay It Forward was released starring Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and Haley Joel Osment.
Maybe you remember the story. Inspired by his teacher to come up with an idea to change the world for the better, a young boy named Trevor McKinney comes up with an ingenious plan. He’s going to help three people. Then they will each help three more people. Three big favors for three other people. If they ask you what they can do for you in return for what you’ve done for them, just ask them to pay it forward.
I’m not sure if Trevor knew it at the time, but he was tapping into a foundational principle that we all know is true yet somehow we often forget.
It is in giving that we receive.
The Life Changing Power of Giving
We live in a world that says if we just get this, or buy that, then we will be happy. Satisfied. Content. But enough is never enough and no matter what we get or how much we buy there’s always something else to get. And we think if we can just get it then our lives will be different, changed, better. But that is rarely the case.
However, when we give something happens. Something changes. Whenever we take what we’ve been given and use it to help others, we are the ones who are blessed. We are the ones who are changed.
As people of faith, we don’t give to get. But this is the way it often works in God’s economy. When we give, and especially when we give sacrificially in faith to God, we receive the blessing of God. And that blessing can come to us in a variety of ways, but it always finds us.
You see, it is in giving that we receive. And here’s the good news, you can’t out give God. So why not find three people today you can help? And if they ask you what they can do for you in return for what you’ve done for them, just ask them to pay it forward.
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