This week left me with thoughts concerning effort – how much
one gives…
Often we hear athletes/coaches say they want to give/see
110%. It seems to be an impossible goal since one cannot give more than he has…
Coach John Wooden said it this way, “You can only give
what you have and you only have 100%. No one is an overachiever. We are all
underachievers to a different extent. I prefer to judge individuals on how
close they come to 100%, knowing that no one can ever achieve perfection…”
Although I fully understand what Coach Wooden was saying
and have the utmost respect for him, I think this time he is being a bit too
literal. The fact is as an athlete one almost always feels he is giving his best,
yet there seems to be a hidden gear that is brought out when the motivation
changes – something the athlete didn’t even know was there…
I saw this a couple weeks ago while watching a college
practice. One of the athletes was really struggling physically. The team was
running lines and had a set time limit allotted to finish the course. This
young man wasn’t coming close. He was cramping, spitting up in the trash can, and
judging by the grimace on his face giving all he had at the moment. Then something
changed. His teammates came along beside him and encouraged him; they ran with
him and lo and behold the kid found another gear…
(I think that extra
10% that was found could be summed up in one word – SACRIFICE – giving beyond
the norm…)
The argument would be that he simply wasn’t giving it all
initially. Again I don’t want to get into the literal argument – but figuratively
there is a thing called motivation that gives us an extra gear!
The past couple weeks we have begun a series at church
dealing with giving “outside the box” for CHRISTmas. Basically the pastor has
been reminding us that the central component to thanksgiving or gratitude is
GRACE. He has pointed out the motivational verse in 2 Corinthians 9:15 that
says, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”
God’s gift of GRACE should motivate us to give of
ourselves beyond what we thought possible – 110%...
The idea of giving “outside of the box” this CHRISTmas
has challenged us to give gifts that go beyond the consumer mentality that
normally controls us. Instead of seeking what we can get this CHRISTmas we
should seek what we could/should give. This challenge is not only a financial
challenge but also a challenge this week to give of ourselves in service to
others.
You may be thinking, “Yeah, I know Coach, but I don’t have
any more time or finances to give. I am busy. I am broke. I have already
budgeted my time/finances to the max…”
I think you have an extra gear! I think God’s grace is
enough motivation to get you to give 110%! I know it is possible… the pastor
pointed out just such a thing that is found in the Scriptures…
2 Corinthians 8:1-5
My friends, we want you to know that the churches in Macedonia have shown others how
kind God is. 2 Although
they were going through hard times and were very poor, they were glad to give
generously. 3 They gave
as much as they could afford and even more, simply because they wanted to. 4 They even
asked and begged us to let them have the joy of giving their money for God’s
people. 5 And they
did more than we had hoped. They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to
us, just as God wanted them to do. (CEV)
This CHRISTmas is a great time to show your
gratitude to God by giving to others…
My daughter Christa just raised over $450 to buy
a fish pond, fishing kit, goat, and 9 chickens as gifts through World Vision.
Others in our church have followed suit by giving similar type gifts. I can
think of many very worthy ministries that are helping people. I’m sure you can
think of people that are in need… Let’s step it up!
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