Horcrux of Giving

"A person who cannot sacrifice will never belong to himself, 

he belongs to whatever he was unwilling to give up."

-John C. Maxwell

This quote hit me square in the nose.  If you want a topic of self-analysis, how about this one?  Look at your life.  I mean seriously look at your life.  What rules it?  The more I am learning about money, the more I am learning about the power it has over people.  The funny thing is, money is merely a tool.  A tool to do good or bad.  And tools are primarily a light into the heart of a person.  My pastor always says, show me your calendar and your checkbook and I will tell you where your heart lies.  We say we are not controlled by anything; that we are free as we can be.  But in the stressful days, the truth comes out.  You see, we long for control and more often than not, we can't live without that item that we claim to control.  We crave to be in charge, to have something we can hold in the air and call a masterpiece of our brilliance.  But in all reality, we are merely self-assigned pawns going about life trying to blend in in all the ways we were meant to stand out.  

Think of what makes you unique.  What makes you different?  And now if others were to be asked this question about you, would they have the same response?  In all honesty, the person that needs to know ourselves the best is us.  I need to take the time to get to know myself.  It is in this journey we discover our true purpose.  

Most of us try to discover our purpose before we know ourselves.  And then get further distracted when we think our purpose belongs inside the box of a job.  We need to realize we are more than a job or a title.  Our paycheck doesn't define our worth, nor does a car, a house, nor a trophy wife.  

I am brought back to one of my primary points: we have to give something up in order to get more of it.  If you can't give it up, maybe it is time for some more self-analysis.  One of the best examples I can give is myself.  The more I give of myself to others, the more I seem to be blessed with my own time back.  The trick is being a cheerful giver.  That may come with time.  But if you don't have that down quite yet, start giving and let the cheer come later.  Because the best day to start is yesterday.  But today is the next best option.

"By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name." -Hebrews 13:15