Lenten Reflection for February 28th

R. G. LeTourneau was an industrialist in the early 1900s who was incredibly successful, designing and building his own line of construction and earth-moving equipment. He was the creator of nearly 300 inventions, had hundreds of patents in his lifetime and was a multi-millionaire. 

LeTourneau was also a Christian and he dedicated his life to being a “businessman for God”.  As he succeeded financially, he was able to increase his giving to the point where he was tithing 90% of his income to the Lord’s work in missions and ministries.

He is quoted as saying, “I shovel out the money, and God shovels it back–but God has a bigger shovel.”

In reflecting on the Gift of Knowledge, I can see ways that the Fruit of the Spirit of Generosity could be a branch of the Gift. The Holy Spirit can work in us to help us acknowledge the blessings we have in life. Blessings of time, talent and treasure, whatever that looks like for each of us. This realisation can help foster gratitude in our heart, gratitude which can lead to a desire to share what we have with others and not hold back.

Saint Paul tells us in his second letter to the Corinthians, “Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:7-9)

We see from Scripture that God wants to bless us in abundance, when He does, it becomes our responsibility to decide how we choose to manage those blessings.

I think LeTourneau expressed it well when he said, “It’s not how much of my money I give to God, but how much of God’s money I keep for myself.”

For our younger brothers and sisters in Christ:

How does it make you feel when you receive a gift for your birthday or Christmas? What about a gift at other times, one you weren’t expecting because it wasn’t even a special occasion? Are you happy and excited? Thankful to the person who gave it to you? Do you feel just as excited when you are giving someone else a present and see the look of happiness on their face?

God loves to give you gifts, in the Bible we read, “...God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8) This verse is saying how He has so much to give to you that you can’t even imagine how much He wants to bless you with. This is something to be truly excited about!

There once was a very wealthy businessman who made so much money that he was able to give most of it away to people doing God’s work through churches and helping the poor. He knew that the money he worked for was a gift from God and was grateful. Because he knew it was a gift, he knew he had to act responsibly with it, and he was happy to give more away.

Let’s try to remember to be thankful to God when we receive blessings, and be mindful to also give away blessings cheerfully because we know our gifts come from our Heavenly Father!

God bless you!