Dec 24 CHRISTMAS EVE!

Luke 12:13-15
13 Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?”
15 Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

Ninety-three-year-old Cecil Green climbed the stairs to the podium as the crowd watched. Cecil had already given away more money than most people ever see in their lifetimes. He had given millions of dollars to various organizations, and now he was being given an award for all the good things his generosity had accomplished. As he reached the top of the wobbly steps to the podium, he shook loose from the people who supported his ninety-three-year-old form on either side and walked toward the podium. With each step he seemed to get more excited and energetic, until suddenly he stopped, looked at the crowd, and broke into a dance that looked something like an Irish jig. "I am so excited," he said when he stepped to the podium after his little dance, "and I appreciate this award very much. But I don't understand why someone should be given such an award for doing something so enjoyable. Giving away my money is so much fun I wish everyone could do it. My goal is to be able to give everything away before I die." Cecil Green had spent much of his life working hard to earn as much as he could. While he enjoyed making money, he didn't really start to have fun until he started giving it away! It seemed that the more he gave away, the more fun he had. He discovered how much fun it was to surprise people with generosity. He discovered how much fun it was to make a difference in other people's lives. He discovered that the greatest thing about making more money was being able to give more away! That's one of the reasons God wants us to be generous. He wants us to find out Cecil's secret. He wants us to discover how much fun it is to surprise people with generosity. He wants us to experience how much fun it is to give to others. He wants us to learn that the greatest thing about having money, possessions, time, and talents is being able to give them away! And once we really learn that, we'll discover that we can never outgive God.

REFLECT: Do you think money makes people happy? Why or why not? What do you think Jesus meant when he said, "Real life is not measured by how much we own"? In what ways can generosity be fun?

PRAY: "Lord, help me to learn Cecil's secret. I want to find out how much fun generosity can be, and I'll try to start by..."

Life is not measured by how much you own.”

I focused on these words the most
My motivation in school is to get a good job, make moola, the usual.
But this verse outlines the success or importance is not determined through such materialistic things
The biggest man in my opinion, is a man who stands firm in his beliefs, and doesn't let the worldly things intertwine with his relationship with God.
It's obviously a big thing for us students to stress about, we're still young in the eyes of God no matter how old we get, but I guess we eventually learn to realize the important things in life. It's a smarter investment to not be so reliant on the physical things considering we'll spend all of eternity with our God.

i remember hearing this from somewhere that humans are very self centered, and it isnt until we are an experienced adult that we start to show generosity daily. i know for sure that my parents are generous to my brother and i, trying their best to make us happy makes them happy. we still have a lot of steps to take before we reach that stage and feeling more and more of Gods love allows us to realize so. it being the Christmas season, we should think about the sacrifice God has made to send down his one and only son to earth and know what fate lay ahead of him.

this was the main point I got: "Money does not buy happiness."
doing things for selfish reasons and only concerning yourself will not keep you happy and satisfied for a long period of time. When doing things for the good of others, we all are filled with that happiness.
Spreading joy and showing our good nature is what many people focus on for christmas. But people should continue to do that not only on christmas, but all 365 days of the year. Always have a generous heart....

Merry christmas!
~Audrey~

I really think this is an excellent verse that really reflects on how Charity should be in our daily practices. If I think back to how I spent nearly every time a close friend or I start to treat each other to something nice.

Charity really doesn't involve debt and involving debt and equal trade into Charity is something that's just so not right and should not mix together.

Charity is more like; giving away without any valid reason to other than seeing others prosper. So it shouldn't reflect upon "oh, how much did he give me last time? i should pay back the exact amount" but it should be completely unconditional, and totally irrelevant to any debts you have owed to yourself or from yourself.

Kinda get what I'm saying>??

money is important in life, but we dont necessarily need it to be happy. You can be happy with a job that gives you no pay but you enjoy doing it. For you can do things for free (volunteer) because you love doing it. Doesnt matter how much $$ u got matters bout how much <3 you got