Mine, Mine

When we say, mine, mine, it is not the first mine that gets us in trouble. It is the second. We should say, Mine, God gave it to me. Freely He has given and so freely I give.

This is not natural to us and must be cultivated. The way to cultivate this is through the realization that all good gifts really do come from God. We even pray this about our daily food. Do we really believe that God gives us our food? Then how can we not freely give food to others? We cultivate this through thanksgiving. We thank God for our abundance and the more we do this, the more convinced we are that He really gave it to us. 

We work hard. We provide for our own and we admit that we are blessed and that the blessing is all grace. To the extent we have grasped our goods as gained and merited, let us confess and acknowledge the grace and abundance of God and let us freely give.