Chapter 12 - The Habit of Generosity - Creatures of Habit

The Habit of Generosity - Creatures of Habit

God's timing is impeccable!  Today I'm blogging about us, creatures of habit.  Joyce's philosophy is that if we concentrate on forming good habits, the bad ones won't have any room to operate.  She says that we can form the habit of being a generous person who reaches out to others to make their lives better - THEN, those bad habits will find no place within us.  Sounds easy enough huh!?

Today in church we had an amazing message - and it was simple.  Much of this I'm taking direct from that message.

 'You can't give what you can't possess'. 

So what does this mean?

In Matthew 18:23 it talks about the servant that owed 10,000 'talents' - that is equal to 144,000 years of wages. I'm not sure about you ladies, but I definitely could not begin to pay that back!  It would take me another 144,000 years, at least!  Amazingly enough, out of compassion the debt was marked paid in full. How incredible was that!  Do you remember what happened next?  Yep, that's right.... There was man who owed the servant 100 Denarii  (equal to 100 days of wages - a little over 3 months of wages) - - - - AND, instead of paying forward the compassion shown to him, the servant threw the man in jail.  Why?  Because it is the way he's used to acting - it's all he knows......

This servant did not appreciate the mercy given to him, he didn't get it; therefore, he was unable to give that same mercy to the man that owed him.  Unfortunately, he fell into the same pattern of behavior that he had always known. 

So, yes, we are creatures of habit.  We move through life so fast and furious that most of the time we act before thinking.  We continue making bad choices.  It takes effort to do otherwise.

'Consider the mercy given to you and give away the same measure'

Do you think that once we understand the abundant mercy our Father gives us, every day of our lives, that we will then be able to share that same kind of mercy with others?  That we will be able to pay it forward?  or will we still fall into the same old bad-patterned behavior?    I think that we will be changed people, people that can share goodness with others.

What if we were a people ready to be merciful?  - generous?  - WOW!

A quote from a pastor that was shared this with us this morning is this:

'If you keep shoveling out what God gives you, He keeps on giving......and His shovel is bigger than ours'.

Time to think before we act - think about God's amazing Grace in all we do - and remember to be generous....to pass that mercy and grace forward.  This is what will be life changing!

Thought for the Day

1)  Consider what you have received from God.  Are you even aware?

2)  How will that change how you deal with others?   Will you soon begin changing those bad habits?

Prayer

Dear God,   Thank you for your never-ending mercy and grace in our lives. Father, give us a daily awareness of it and work with us as we learn to pay it forward and share it with others around us. We love you Father and are so thankful for you.  In your name we pray.  Amen.