by Tim Hall

An officer once visited the hospital where soldiers lay wounded from battle. He offered sympathy to one young man for the loss of his leg. "Sir," the soldier replied, "I did not lose my leg. I consider it an honor to have given it for my country."

There is a decided difference between those two viewpoints. What one considers a tragic loss, another looks upon as a gift for a noble ideal. One must choose the vantage point from which they will view life's trials.

Some might consider Paul's losses as significant. When he decided to abandon his alliance with the rabbis and Pharisees, a door to a promising future was shut. But consider the view of those "sacrifices" Paul chose: "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him ..." (Philippians 3:7-9, NKJV).

Some focus on what has been given up and look back longingly on the past. At a moment of weakness, they may choose to reclaim what was once theirs. But those who look upon their sacrifices as gifts to their Lord feel no desire to go back. Their faces are set toward the prize of heaven. They are happy to give up whatever must be given.

Here is the key to becoming what God wants us to be –- cheerful givers. "So let each of you give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7). As the check is dropped into the collection plate, do we think of what those dollars might have purchased? Do we consider the act a net loss financially? From a purely financial perspective it is a loss. But when properly motivated –- when the cause of God's kingdom is the choice we make -– the money in the tray has not been lost. It has been given.

All gifts to God must begin in the heart: "as he purposes in his heart." Otherwise the world's attitude will prevail and we will only grudgingly release our grip on whatever we give.