Latest / The Daily Ripples Podcast / May 19 - Giving Freely

Transcript

May 19 - Giving Freely · The Daily Ripples Podcast

• 0:03
  Well, welcome back, everybody, to the Daily Ripples podcast.
• 0:06
  Today is May the 19th, and I am Pastor Mike.
• 0:10
  I'm glad to have Corey back with us today.
• 0:13
  And as a quick reminder, if you have not done so yet, please be sure to subscribe to the website,
• 0:19
  dailyripples.com.
• 0:20
  You'll get an email each day of the Daily Devotional.
• 0:23
  At the end of the Daily Devotional, posting on the website is actually a copy of this podcast.
• 0:28
  But you can also find this podcast on Apple, on Spotify, on your favorite podcatcher.
• 0:33
  Be sure to like and follow so that you never miss a beat, never miss an episode.
• 0:37
  But jumping right in, today is May the 19th, and our daily ripple is titled Giving Freely.
• 0:42
  The Stone.
• 0:44
  True generosity expects nothing in return.
• 0:47
  When giving is tied to reward, it becomes a transaction.
• 0:51
  When it is free, it becomes love.
• 0:53
  Ripple One is practical.
• 0:55
  Today, I will give without keeping score.
• 0:57
  Whether it is time, attention, or kindness, I will offer it without expecting recognition or repayment.
• 1:04
  Quiet generosity builds a deeper kind of richness.
• 1:07
  Ripple Two is spiritual.
• 1:09
  As I follow the example of Christ who gave freely and completely, the Holy Spirit forms a generous heart within me.
• 1:16
  The Father's love flows through me when I release the need for return.
• 1:20
  Over time, I discover that giving freely does not diminish me.
• 1:24
  It deepens my life, and we will save our prayer for the end.
• 1:29
  You know, Corey, as I was reading through this, I thought about this weird dynamic that we have in our human nature, or at least I have.
• 1:38
  Because even though I believe everything that this says, you know, that whenever I'm giving freely, it becomes love, that, you know, if I am quietly generous with others, it builds a deeper kind of richness in my life.
• 1:52
  but man, I still sometimes have my faults and failures, my character defects, my shortcomings
• 1:59
  will still come into play because I will give freely to you, Corey, and I will give you probably
• 2:05
  the shirt off or my back. I'll give you all the shoes and my shoe room and people who know me know
• 2:11
  I'm a sneakerhead and that's a pretty big deal for me because I got a bunch of pairs of shoes,
• 2:15
  but I also realize how blessed I am and I love giving and sharing those with other people.
• 2:19
  And yet there are times when I don't want to be giving, when my selfishness pops back up.
• 2:29
  And I'll tell you when it is.
• 2:31
  It's when someone asked me to give them something.
• 2:35
  Make that make sense.
• 2:36
  Like, I'll give you anything, Corey, as long as you don't ask for it.
• 2:39
  But the minute you ask for it, my initial reaction is going to be, well, no, that's mine.
• 2:46
  Have you ever had that experience?
• 2:48
  Or what's that all about?
• 2:50
  Well, I do. I agree. But then it was taking me to a place of, you know, that I thought, well, why is that? And I want to set the terms, right?
• 3:03
  Right. I think that's it. It's control. Exactly.
• 3:07
  And that is, you know, that's an interesting thing.
• 3:09
  I forgot who I was talking to or reading or listening to,
• 3:13
  but they were talking about people that, you know,
• 3:18
  I forgot who it was, but they were kind of talking about,
• 3:21
  it was somebody talking about people like us.
• 3:24
  I don't know, or wherever it was,
• 3:27
  but they were talking about receiving gifts and giving gifts.
• 3:31
  And they were talking about how when you give a gift,
• 3:36
  you can control that, right? You can control, hey, this is what I'm giving.
• 3:40
  The time, the amount, what you're giving. Exactly. Yeah.
• 3:45
  But when I receive one, that makes it weird, right? It makes it, you know, because I got to
• 3:53
  respond and I got to respond proper and I got to respond in a way because then I got to give one
• 3:59
  back, right? And, you know, it just confuses things. But, you know, that goes back to what
• 4:04
  we were talking about that one day, right? I was talking about someone like me. I could be sitting
• 4:09
  in a jail cell, you know, and, you know, everything, you know, I might not be, you know,
• 4:14
  everything on the outside. I'm like, you know, wishing that the girl doesn't leave and the job,
• 4:18
  all these different things, but nothing can go change of the daily routine. That routine,
• 4:26
  I don't want changed. But if I could just say, hey, let me out, that'd be cool. But
• 4:34
  Why are they letting me out early?
• 4:35
  You know, this wasn't the plan.
• 4:39
  But I think it goes into it because I'm selfish and self-centered by nature.
• 4:43
  And that's what I was thinking about, too, is that, and by nature, I want to be, and you
• 4:47
  hit on it, I want to be in control of everything.
• 4:50
  And, you know, the Bible affirms, I know from my own experience in life, I know from the
• 4:55
  teachings in recovery, that control and love cannot exist in the same space.
• 5:00
  And I mean, ultimately, that's why we as human beings have the free will to choose whether
• 5:04
  we believe in or follow God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or whomever, is because God does love
• 5:11
  truly.
• 5:12
  And because he loves truly, he does not control us.
• 5:15
  That's why, you know, Jesus came and he modeled that sacrificial self-giving love.
• 5:21
  I mean, he really modeled what it means to give freely of yourself.
• 5:23
  He gave his entire body, his life, everything, you know, for our behalf.
• 5:27
  You know, Jesus did.
• 5:28
  And ultimately, that's the ultimate test of that.
• 5:32
  But I'm glad that today what I've learned in the program is that even when somebody asks
• 5:36
  me to give them something, my initial reaction is not my response.
• 5:41
  I've learned enough in the program that I don't say what pops into my head, which is, well,
• 5:48
  heck no, that's mine.
• 5:49
  Why would you ask me to give you that or to do that for you?
• 5:52
  I don't have to say that.
• 5:53
  I can pause and I can say, if it's money, I can say, well, let me check into some things and see
• 5:59
  what I can do. I don't have to commit right away. Now, there are times when I know that all somebody
• 6:05
  needs is some money for gas and I've got it in my pocket. That's easy enough for me to do. That
• 6:11
  doesn't ever bother me, especially when it's somebody early on in the program and they're
• 6:14
  trying to get back and forth to meetings and things like that. I don't want to get it twisted.
• 6:18
  That kind of thing doesn't give me any kind of resentment. But if it's something that's going to
• 6:23
  me to sacrifice something, either my time, my availability, my attention, things of that nature,
• 6:31
  those are the ones that my shortcomings and my, honestly, at times, my laziness, you know,
• 6:36
  try to rear its ugly head and try to figure out a way to wiggle out of it. But when I don't,
• 6:41
  and when I go forward anyway, and when I give freely, even if somebody asked me,
• 6:46
  even if I initially had some resentment about it or hesitancy, I always feel better on the other side
• 6:51
  of that, you know? And when you get to the, and you brought up an interesting aspect of this too,
• 6:58
  which is the flip side of giving freely, which is receiving, receiving from somebody else,
• 7:04
  that takes humility. You know, it takes generosity for us to give freely, but it takes humility for
• 7:11
  us to receive freely. Because yeah, if you're trying to offer me something, you know, my initial
• 7:16
  response could be, well, why do you think that I need that from you? You know what I mean? Like,
• 7:21
  you're hurting my pride. Like, I'm not man enough to go out and get that for myself. Why do I need
• 7:26
  that from you? You know, yada, yada. But, you know, it is what I've heard time and time again,
• 7:35
  you know, through, especially as I go about and have been, you know, trained as a pastor and things
• 7:40
  of that nature, because sometimes what people give me is nothing more than gratitude or appreciation
• 7:45
  for a sermon. You know, like I'll get up and I'll preach a sermon on a Sunday morning,
• 7:50
  and afterwards someone will come up and tell me, thank you for that message. I really did such a
• 7:55
  great job. You know, they give me compliments, something as simple as giving me compliments for
• 8:00
  doing a good job in what I was supposed to do. And initially, early on, you know, in my pastoral
• 8:06
  career, that really bothered me because I did not want my ego to be fluffed and inflated. And so I
• 8:13
  I would, I would hem and haw and stumble and say things like, well, I appreciate that.
• 8:19
  But, you know, really it's just, you know, it's the Holy Spirit working through me.
• 8:22
  You know, it's not me, you know, yada, yada.
• 8:24
  And, but the thing is, that is, that is almost that false humility, if you will, the flip side,
• 8:31
  you know, the, the, the, the fake, fake humble.
• 8:35
  And I had a, a pastor friend tell me, he said, you know, when, when people are telling you,
• 8:41
  thank you or a good job for a sermon, you have to realize that if you truly are up there
• 8:47
  being a vessel of the Holy Spirit working through you, that they're not actually thanking me,
• 8:52
  they're thanking God, but I'm just something physical in front of them that they can actually
• 8:57
  vocalize that to, and people need that as well.
• 9:00
  And so that helped shift my perspective on it so that I was able to receive that gratitude
• 9:07
  without feeling some kind of weird way about it.
• 9:10
  Because, yeah, like you, when people give me things, I often feel strange about it.
• 9:14
  And I think that's just human nature.
• 9:17
  Well, you know, I was thinking about this.
• 9:23
  Because I'm very passionate.
• 9:25
  You know this.
• 9:26
  And probably the people that listen to this regularly know that I'm pretty passionate about this.
• 9:30
  And, you know, sometimes I'll get in my head and I'm like, man, why is not everybody like this?
• 9:36
  Yeah, yeah.
• 9:37
  Which what you really mean is, why isn't everyone like me?
• 9:41
  Because, you know, well, here's the thing, though.
• 9:44
  And this kind of goes back into a little bit of the difference.
• 9:47
  I'm not bringing up this to argue at all.
• 9:51
  Sure.
• 9:51
  But with the self-love and loving thing, right?
• 9:54
  But, you know, and I was thinking about this because, you know,
• 9:57
  I ponder quite a bit on different subjects.
• 10:00
  And I was like, well, you know, why is Michael?
• 10:04
  And, you know, I was thinking about how long you've been doing the pastoral things and things like that.
• 10:10
  Because, you know, I remember, Michael, when I came into Alcoholics Anonymous, at least the first time for the first stint, right?
• 10:19
  And I hated it, man, because I knew, like, I was having to do this thing and sponsor guys.
• 10:24
  And I just hated it sometimes because I was like, this is taking away from my time.
• 10:28
  Yeah.
• 10:28
  But I did it anyways.
• 10:30
  And I do it anyways today.
• 10:32
  And, you know, sometimes, you know, it gets in my way.
• 10:35
  It gets in my way of what, you know, my family, you know, my significant other wants me to
• 10:41
  do sometimes.
• 10:42
  It gets in the way of, you know, my gym time, my me time.
• 10:47
  I don't really have any me time, but, you know, if I did have me time, it would get in
• 10:50
  the way of that.
• 10:51
  You know, so I think about, like, but we do see that the flip is with the self-love, being
• 11:00
  know, to love myself today because I understand today what that stuff does for me. I understand.
• 11:08
  That's why, you know, I sit, I guess, and, you know, all sometimes I'm like, man, why is everybody
• 11:13
  not doing this? Yeah. Because it makes you feel good. Yeah. And, you know, it gives me a sense of
• 11:18
  purpose. It gives me a sense of belonging. It helps my relationship with my higher power and
• 11:25
  all that other stuff, right? You know, and I went, you know, just like we were talking about earlier,
• 11:30
  You'll compress it probably.
• 11:31
  But, you know, I went for 20, talking for like 25 minutes on that episode.
• 11:35
  Right.
• 11:36
  And about how, you know, to unblock myself and what's how, you know, start unblocking myself
• 11:42
  from this stuff and start seeing, you know, and learning what helps me grow a conscious
• 11:49
  contact with God.
• 11:51
  And so this is going to bring it back.
• 11:53
  I can not talk about it on this, but on page 14 and 15 of the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous,
• 11:57
  it says these words, the same words that are in James.
• 12:00
  Faith without works is dead.
• 12:02
  Yep, yep.
• 12:04
  And that's referring to helping others.
• 12:06
  And on page 76 of the big book, it says faith without works is dead,
• 12:11
  and it's referring to in context of steps 8 and 9.
• 12:16
  And then on page 88, it says faith without works is dead,
• 12:21
  and it's referring to working with others.
• 12:23
  Step 12.
• 12:24
  Yeah, step 12.
• 12:25
  So when I think about that, of how I grow my conscious contact with my higher power is clearing up the wrongs I've done in my life or presently may be doing.
• 12:37
  Because the ideal, you know, because there has to be a start.
• 12:39
  Because I'm still this person, man.
• 12:41
  And I got to continue to do this.
• 12:43
  And that, you know, so that's the work, man.
• 12:46
  And, like, you know, I get to be free because I do, because other people get to be free too.
• 12:52
  But, you know, I didn't know what the benefit is to this.
• 12:57
  And it outweighs and the, you know, the hassle, the this, the this, the sleepless nights, the, you know, having to, you know, interrupt things.
• 13:08
  You go speak, do these other, you Know, commitments that, you know, we have.
• 13:13
  And, you know what, it's amazing though.
• 13:15
  I love it and I'm extremely grateful to be a part of that.
• 13:19
  And the self-love thing, where it comes into play more for me, and I was thinking about this as you were sharing there, is that if I take a drink of alcohol today, I know that in that moment, I am not loving myself.
• 13:36
  If I keep doing what I'm supposed to do in the program and working through the steps, then I can maintain and grow that true self-love.
• 13:48
  And I'm not talking about selfishness or self-serving or anything like that, because I've learned
• 13:53
  enough in this program to know without a shadow of a doubt that me taking a drink is going
• 13:58
  to destroy my body, my mind, and my spirit.
• 14:02
  And how could I do that if I truly love myself?
• 14:05
  And that's why...
• 14:07
  That's in a spiritually fit condition, though, Michael.
• 14:11
  Correct.
• 14:11
  In a spiritually fit condition.
• 14:13
  And the way that I maintain that spiritually fit condition is by working this program.
• 14:19
  That's why I said when I'm working this program, that's how I am showing that I love myself.
• 14:26
  What I was thinking about is this is, we'll clear it up pretty soon, but you think about like a dry drunk.
• 14:34
  Think about when you were drinking and you had bouts of different times that you weren't drinking.
• 14:41
  Because we didn't drink.
• 14:43
  I mean, I drank a lot of days.
• 14:45
  But there were some days, man, that it just wasn't in the cards for me to be able to drink.
• 14:49
  But I think about my brain those days.
• 14:54
  It was in a constant state of tension.
• 14:57
  And when I got that drink, my brain was able to breathe, right?
• 15:04
  I don't know, but I know what I'm talking about.
• 15:09
  Well, and you were in that constant state of tension.
• 15:11
  And the only thing that could give you the relief at that time was that drink.
• 15:16
  And now you have other things that can give you that relief that are actually healthy for
• 15:20
  you and that actually keep you from getting back to that place where you were in to begin
• 15:24
  with.
• 15:25
  Yeah.
• 15:25
  And you know what that is?
• 15:26
  It's giving freely of myself, right?
• 15:30
  Exactly.
• 15:31
  And I'm sure you've seen this too, because you were talking about, you know, the first
• 15:34
  stint when you came in the program, you were seeing certain people, you know, and this and
• 15:37
  that and the other.
• 15:38
  And I was thinking about, because there's always those guys that we see that come into the program, and let's say that they're really good at talking the talk, right? But something is missing, and you can spot it a mile away if you've got that spiritual gift of discernment from the Holy Spirit that grows as we do this.
• 15:58
  Something's missing because it's all just surface level.
• 16:01
  And what happens is that they're trying to pour out something that they don't have inside.
• 16:06
  And so it's going to be empty all the way around.
• 16:10
  Versus if I'm working this program and I'm allowing God to pour into me,
• 16:16
  then I actually have something worthwhile to pour out and to share with others.
• 16:21
  Well, with that, we can close out with our prayer for today.
• 16:26
  I believe that I started today's Ripple, so I'll close out with the prayer.
• 16:31
  Our prayer for today.
• 16:33
  Father, teach me to give without expectation.
• 16:36
  Through Your Spirit, shape my heart to reflect the selfless love of Your Son.
• 16:41
  Amen.
• 16:42
  Amen.
• 16:51
  And I'll cut out that and because I lost the train of thought.
• 16:55
  But anyway, it happens to us all.