Refreshing Others

One man gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.
A generous man will prosper;
he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
Proverbs 11:24-25

Isn't this just the opposite of what our natural instincts tell us? When our natural mind does the math, we think, Give and you have less, hoard and you have more. But Jesus gives us the true formula. "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35 NKJV).

I learned this principle the hard way. I once slipped into a terrible time of depression. I was disappointed with situations in life, and on top of that I was feeling like a failure. And so I kept sinking deeper and deeper. then one day, someone suggested that the best way of depression was not to do more things for myself, but to find someone else who needed cheering. Just at that time I was invited to teach sewing to boys at a juvenile detention facility. It was a step - and I took it. It ended up that the most popular project with these troubled teens was to make teddy bears. They wanted to make pink and yellow and blue teddy bears. Then they told me the reason. They wanted to make them for their moms and little sisters and grandmothers. Then I realized they were just Lek me. In their troubles, they needed to give, too. Because "it is more blessed to give than to receive." It was the way out of depression for them and for me, too.

"He who refreshes others will (themselves) be refreshed."

From The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional by Debbi Bryson; March 23


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