Editorial June 17, 1922 Issue

The Cheerful Giver

Ella W. Hoag

It has always been considered commendable to be a cheerful giver. Mankind has ever been ready to shout its acclaim for what is has called generosity. All sorts of mistaken motives may, however, prompt what frequently passes as cheerful giving; there may be merely the desire for human approval, or simply an endeavor to quiet an uneasy conscience, the giver hoping thereby to balance his account with God. There is no doubt that when Paul affirmed, "God loveth a cheerful giver," he was referring to something much deeper and broader than the ordinary sense of giving, whatever might be its claim to liberality. The cheerful giving which God loves must involve much. Only the teaching of Christian Science, which searches and purifies the innermost motives of men, can show how to give in the way which merits divine approval.

Although the Bible rarely presents the thought of giving without linking it with blessing to the giver, and while Jesus said, "Give, and it shall be given unto you," no one will question that giving will bring reward only in proportion to the unselfishness which actuates it. Mrs. Eddy tells us in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 446), "A wrong motive involves defeat;" hence, good results come from giving, in proportion to the purity of motive. Christian Science throws a wonderful light upon giving when it begins by analyzing every motive and purpose connected therewith, and explains the way to secure the mental attitude which can express itself in perfect giving.

When one first becomes sufficiently interested in Christian Science to join in the various activities of its church work, he is astonished to find how different is the standpoint of giving as set forth in Christian Science from that to which he has been accustomed. Instead of giving to God—in time, in effort, in money—what might be left over after all personal wants had been supplied, he finds the foundation stone of all true giving to be, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God,"—seek ye first the advancement of God's work, and, then, in giving as in all else, the added things will begin to appear. To accept the joyous privilege of placing God first in giving is to touch the hem of the garment of freedom from all sense of limitation. It seems almost strange that it has taken mortals so long to discover that limitation has always resulted from lack of giving; for lack of giving implies lack of loving; and without love there can be no consciousness of good, since there is no good except that which is in and of infinite, divine Love.

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