Article December 23, 1933 Issue

Cheerful Giving

ANNE R. ADAMS

Let us give joyfully. If our attitude be joyous, whether the incentive be from duty, necessity, or love, it will bless both the giver and the one who receives. St. Paul said, "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."

A student of Christian Science early learned that to reflect God she must learn to give; that since God gives all, in her giving she must reflect Him. She also learned that in reality she possessed by reflection all that God gives, but in realizing her possessions she must give of this ever replenishing abundance. This was a joyful lesson in her experience because she found that true happiness consists not in getting but in giving. Tasks which had seemed unbearable were accomplished with less effort than before. But she was yet to learn a deeper and more valuable lesson: that of giving joyfully.

One day she came face to face with the realization that, although she was giving her services to the best of her ability, she seemed greatly burdened. The service which she was giving in her home was accompanied by a sense of responsibility, duty, and drudgery; her business obligations seemed heavy and tiring; and her church activities were demanding more than she was able to give. Recognizing that there was need for a clearer consciousness of the truth, she listened with a willing heart for the voice of Love to show her the way out of this difficulty. She asked herself this question: Was she really giving all, or was she withholding part of what she had to give? She had, as God's child, abundance of love, abundance of joy, good will, fellowship, kindness, overflowing sympathy, and gratitude, yet each of her outward gifts was wanting in these qualities. Her giving, she saw, had been too material. Like the scribes and Pharisees, she had been paying her "tithe of mint and anise and cummin," but had "omitted the weightier matters of the law," not realizing that these ought she "to have done, and not to leave the other undone." At last she saw very clearly that in learning to reflect God in giving, she must learn also to reflect Love in giving, for God is Love.

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