To All Those Who Don’t Feel Like Giving Anymore

Do you ever have trouble finding motivation for giving of time, talent, and treasure?  Do you ever run out of energy to love?  Have you ever given of yourself and thought, “That’s enough.  I can’t give any more.” Or is that just a problem with me?

I’m sure this happens to everyone who seeks to live generously.  Why do we so often hit that wall where we just don’t feel like giving anymore?

Perhaps it’s because we just don’t realize everything God has given to us.  Maybe we need a little perspective.

How Have You Been Blessed?

God freely gives us so much just in the single act of salvation.  Yet we so quickly discount it. He gave all for us.  He gave his only son who gave His life.  He submitted himself to humiliation and death for us.

Even apart from any material possessions, there are plenty of reason to be grateful.  We have been given “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3).

Here’s a partial list of spiritual blessings we’ve received, taken from Ephesians 1.  We have been:

• Chosen by God
• Adopted as God’s child
• Redeemed
• Forgiven
• Lavished with the riches of His grace
• Given knowledge of the mystery of God’s will
• Guaranteed an inheritance
• Sealed with the Holy Spirit

Not enough yet?  Flip to Ephesians 2 and the list keeps going.  You are:

• Resurrected to supernatural life
• Seated with Christ
• Experiencing God’s kindness
• Given salvation
• Given purpose
• Brought near to God
• Given peace
• Reconciled
• Granted access to the Father
• Unified into the family of God

If you consider each item in this list, you’ll quickly become overwhelmed.  And we could add even more to the list before ever getting to physical provision or material abundance – with which we all have been abundantly blessed.

Who Determines Our Why?

It is by meditating on the gifts God has given us that we find infinite motivation to give.  When we realize that we have been blessed far beyond anything we need or deserve, how can we not give back to God in service to others – even when we don’t feel like giving anymore?

Do you count your spiritual blessings among the resources from which you can give? A word of encouragement lifts a spirit about to give up hope.  A listening ear squelches loneliness for a despairing person.  Sharing the Gospel invites them to life as they’ve never known before.

Giving out of gratefulness.

God never gives us blessings so we can use them our own purposes. [ See Why You Have Been Blessed by God ]  In the midst of outlining all our blessings, Paul notes that we have been blessed for a purpose – that we might walk in the good works that God has laid out for us (Ephesians 2:10).  God blesses us so that we can pass it on (2 Cor. 1:4).

We give out of gratefulness, from the overflow of what God has given us.  To put it simply, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).  When God empowers us to love beyond our own capability to give anymore, it is clearer than ever that it is He who is loving through us.

And that should make us feel like giving even more.

Do you ever feel “tapped out” in giving to others? How does meditating on the promises of God help you reacquire His perspective? Leave a comment with your thoughts below.