Do You Want Abundance?

6 Sep

“An egoist lives in poverty.  A kind person lives in abundance.”  ~ Maxime Lagace

I feel sorry for people with inflated egos, I really do.  The reason that I feel so sorry for them is because they will never truly be happy.  They want so much — time, attention, affection, investment, et cetera — from others that they can never be satisfied.  No matter how much they receive, they will feel lacking.  They will always want more.  Of course, when they get that “more”, they will not be satisfied because there is even more out there somewhere.

A kind person, on the other hand, is generally meek and humble.  They will live in abundance because they are always thankful for what they receive.  They are so grateful, as a matter of fact, that they give what they receive away.  They find someone who is more in need than they and make sure that the needy are given care.  As they give away, they find that they have more in reserve — that’s the “magic” of sacrificial giving, by the way: the more one gives, the more one receives — and they give that away as well.  They will always live in abundance because they count everything that they have as blessing.

I think that this poses a very basic question to each and every one of us today: how do you live?  Do you live as if the world owes you and you are looking for repayment?  Or, do you live grateful for everything that you have received?  Our outlook on life will determine just how we live our lives.

Just to be clear, there is nothing wrong with wanting or needing.  Those are basic human feelings and they are a part of every person’s life.  The problem comes in when our wants and needs take over our lives.  If we do nothing but attempt to supply our wants and needs, we will find, in short order, that we will never be satisfied.

Perhaps the best want that we can have is the desire to help others and the most important need that we can have is to know that others have been supplied with what they require to live. Pursuing those wants and needs will prove that we are Christians.  God would be pleased to see us engage in that endeavor.

FAITH ACTION:  Be kind to all you encounter today.