Double Loser

“Generosity is not giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is giving me that which you need more than I do.” - Kahlil Gibran

Would you consider yourself a generous person? Here’s a test: have you spent more time thinking about how to amass wealth or how to give it away? It is a very perilous undertaking to be stingy, but it is a common fault among leaders. We often do for ourselves that which we would never do for our subordinates or employees.

King Midas was the epitome of a greedy man. You remember the story. He wished that everything he touched would turn to gold and eventually ruined his own happiness when he accidentally turned his daughter into a golden statue.

There is an old saying in the South, “Get all you can; can all you get; and sit on the lid.” Does that philosophy run parallel to your thinking or behavior? If so, you are very short sighted.

The story is told of a famous man before he was well-known and financially comfortable; he and his newly-wed wife were on a shoestring budget. In his left pocket he had a twenty-dollar bill and in his right pocket he had a one-dollar note. At church one Sunday when the offering plate was passed, he accidentally reached into the wrong pocket and gave away practically all his money. After the service, on his way home, he sheepishly admitted his unforgivable blunder to his young wife. She laughed at him until he became irritated and asked what was so funny? Her reply was that he had not only given away all their money but that he would only be blessed by God for the one-dollar gift he had intended to give. He was a double looser!

Are you a double looser? Leaders strive to be generous with others, and see the wisdom of storing up for themselves an even greater blessing both here on earth and in eternity too. God demonstrated this attitude on the cross of Calvary. God, who already possessed everything, gave his only Son to pay for our sins so we could inherit eternal life.” Now that is generosity!

“Learn to be generous to others and in doing so, you will be giving back to yourself.”