Giving
involves three things/concepts: the giver, the receiver and the gift. In every
giving process, there is always a giver, the party that is offering a solution,
a receiver, the party accepting what is been offered, and the gift, which is
the offering. We have already established the fact that giving is beyond giving
money; it could be giving a life, property, time, solutions, prayers, support,
etc. there is a way we can give that our giving is only periodical, i.e. when
we have what to give or when we come across someone in need. However, giving
ought to be more than that. In other words, God designed everyone to become an
eternal giver. At such, our existence continually gives, and even when we are
gone, we still give. We are designed to give with every breath, every action,
and always to people around us and to our generation. Friend, I submit to you
that when we do with our lives exactly what we are supposed to do with it, then
everything we do gives to others, in short, our existence becomes a gift. At
this point, we the giver, becomes the gift. The best thing that can happen to
any man is to live according to purpose. Living a purposeful life is living as
a gift and living as a gift qualifies us for eternal celebration. In my honest
opinion, true celebrities are those who spend their entire lives as gifts to
humanity. The purpose of life itself is a gift from God that needs to be paid
forward to our generation. What transforms a person from being just a giver to
becoming a gift is discovering and utilizing your inherent gifts. T. D. Jakes
in his book Reposition Yourself, said “…finding your gift is more than getting a degree.”
Examples
of people whose lives became gifts are numerous. Abraham abandoned all to
follow God to a place he never knew, believing the impossible. Moses, Samuel,
David all gave their lives to us as gifts simply by living as God would have
them live. Jesus Christ, our ultimate example was a gift from God to humanity.
He is a typical example of a giver who became the gift for the universe. Nelson
Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, Mother Theresa are all examples of contemporary people
who gave their lives as gifts. We celebrate these people today, not because of
the awards they got, nor because of their location nor tribes. They are all
examples of ordinary people who got to extraordinary heights because they gave
their lives to the service of humanity. There is so much we can do now to help
those in our immediate environment, but our best lies in discovering and
fulfilling the purpose of our existence. It could be as simple as birthing a
new cause or intercession. Are you confused about what your purpose is, then
seek Him, your creator. He is the only one who knows you enough to tell you. I
recommend to you a book by Rick Warren, one of my favourite authors, “The
Purpose Driven Life” In this book, Rick noted: “if you want to know why you
were born on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by His purpose
and for His purpose.”
In
the words of George Bernard Shaw, “This is the true joy in life-that being used
for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. That being a force of
nature, instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances
complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of
the opinion that my life belong to the whole community and as long as I live it
is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up
when I die. For the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its
own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It’s a sort of splendid torch which
I’ve got to hold up for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as
possible before handling it on to future generations.(Source: The Seven Habit of Highly Effective People-Steven Covey)
Are
you interested in living a life worth celebrating by generation yet unborn,
then seek Him; find purpose, live your own life and become a gift worth
celebrating.
Excerpt from my book 'Life like a River©
To get an e-copy of the book, send a request mail to caavacglobal@yahoo.com
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