Counter Intuitive

I was listing recently to a podcast interview with Dr. Richard Davidson, a neuroscientist from the University of Wisconsin. He spoke about a study on happiness where one group of people were given $100 and told they could go out and spend it on something nice for themselves. Another group was also given $100 and told they had to either give it away or spend it on someone else. At the end of the day, they gathered the participants back and asked them a series of questions. I’m sure you can guess the results. The people who gave away the money or who spent it on others were way above and beyond happier than those who spent it on themselves. In fact, it wasn’t even close.

It’s counterintuitive. But I think this is why people so often come back from mission trips or from giving out food to the hungry, or from building Habitat homes and say things like, “I got way more out of that than I gave to it!” It is why people who give generously feel so good when they write a check. And it is why when we know we’ve made a difference in somebody else’s life – when we’ve given everything we have to something significant – something we believe in, we experience deep joy. 

Like many of you, and like many before me, I too have found that when I make it all about me, which I do all too often, my life is small and skewed. But when I open my heart and hands, to him and to others, my life is never so abundant…

Jesus once said, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it…” (Mark 8:34-37)

Let us pray: Generous God, You give extravagantly, and we thank you for the abundant blessings that fill our lives. Thank you also for creating us in your image. Help us to ever be looking for ways to give to others as you have given to us; in Jesus’ name. Amen.