Giving as means of spreading love and amassing blessings

Sir: Giving is difficult for many people; giving unconditionally is more difficult. It’s a key that unlocks potential and kismet. Giving isn’t obligatory; it’s one’s moral duty. Inability to give doesn’t irk God; it’s the refusal to give that angers God. In life, whether you’re giving a tithe to God, alms to the poor or a gift to a loved one, you’ll please God by giving unconditionally and consistently.

Your life on earth is a temporary one, with no guarantee of your immortality or eternity. So for the short time you have here to feel the love of your loved ones, to experience the presence of God, to behold the natural wonders and splendours of the world, and to pay nothing for the sun and the air that sustain you, then you should be extremely grateful to your Creator by lending a hand to your fellow travellers.

If you’re the ‘showing’ type that likes to expose, for people to see, the huge amount you’re giving as an offering at worship centres but hate to assist those seeking financial assistance from you, you should ask God for forgiveness, and learn how to help the needy. Truly, the more you give with a purposeful commitment, the more the paradox of giving will paradoxically pave the way for multiplication in your endeavours.

Some people give just once and stop whilst others continue. Heroes are those who give consistently, blessed are they that give to both genders, and sincere are those who give unconditionally. Some females give to only their fellow females whilst some males make mainly males their mates. Some males find pleasure in giving to the opposite sex whilst some females enjoy giving to only males. Some have but won’t give; they spool out excuses yet spend lavishly. But whatever informs your choice, please give unconditionally and consistently, for it’s more profitable to give than to refuse.

Some people remain poor in life and die too soon because they refuse to give. Some don’t give because they don’t have. Some give you a ridiculous amount just once to stop you from coming back. In a superstitious setting like Africa, many people believe that unseen forces do manipulate and deplete resources. Thus, these people give and receive money, using left hands. To safeguard their currencies, they tie them up, mark them off or chop off one corner of any note they consider suspect. Whatever is your belief system, give unconditionally when the need arises.

Those who get their wealth through diabolical means have rules governing their spending, thus becoming very difficult to help certain people, even their relations. Some of this elite class are callous, suppressing the rising youths. They don’t give so that they will avoid problems and inquisitive eyes. Others refuse to give because they don’t want people to be in their circuit.Whatever class you belong to, and whether you have skeleton in your closet or not, please give clean money unconditionally as do Olu James Omosule and billionaire Femi Otedola.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The measure of your wealth lies in how many people you’ve enriched whilst you’re alive. Man, in all his riches and glory, is vanity. Seventy years is all you have, and eighty if you’refit. So in your salad days, give! In the days of your youth, give! In old age, give! Don’t act like someone who has given three times to a person that approached them, and screamed angrily at the same person when approached for the fourth time.

It’s better to survive on slavery-like jobs and begging than to survive on crime. Don’t think that your help seekers have taken you for granted by frequently asking from you; they’ve not. When closed doors open and the hands of the Lord touch upon your help seekers, appreciation will overwhelm you. Remember that nothing succeeds like success, and one good turn deserves another.

What profits a rich but miserly man thrown to the worms to be fed on at death? What profits those affluent, fair-skinned skinflints whose faultless skin eventually becomes dark manure in a yeoman’s soil? When you save others’ lives by giving to them, you also save your own life and that of your future progeny.

Some assist you not really because they like you, but because they pray never to be in your shoes.Some give to prove that they’re humane, kind-hearted, reliable, responsible and have common sense: qualities many are lacking. Others give to you to please God, not you, and to satisfy their conscience. Worse still, dangerous are those who give merely to get a guernsey!

Whether they themselves realise this or not, those who constantly give are the salt of the earth, who have written their names in the book of life and whose base Jehovah God will always expand. Give.

The chicken feed you’re given doesn’t matter; what matters is the status of the giver. Give consistently and unconditionally from your hard-earned salary, not from your ill-gotten proceeds.

Do away with such a defeatist attitude as: ‘It’s not rosy where I am,’ and give generously from your hard-earned salary or wages. This is the best form of giving that Jesus Christ teaches.

In conclusion, I charge rich Nigerians to rent cheap houses elsewhere, emulate Americans so that they’ll have enough to give consistently and unconditionally to those in need.

Aladesohun Sola wrote from Port Harcourt.