Fearless Giving Overcomes The Fear of Lack!
“Give more generously till you overcome your fear for having nothing, or your greed for having more.”
One of our greatest fears is not having enough – or needing help and discovering that you lack sufficient resources. This fear is magnified when it relates to financial resources or other material things. This is why you may find your first instinct is to keep what you have instead of giving it to someone in need. Fact be told, it sounds counterintuitive to give generously when it looks like everything is falling apart or is going to fall apart. When you are afraid of the future or unsure about the present, your instinct is to do all that is possible to ensure a sense of security in your life. This is understandable.
However, this isn’t as much about the fear of losing material possessions as the fear of “giving” itself. Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of people – those that think in terms of abundance and the others that think in terms of lack. This is not referring to how much money they have in their bank accounts or how much assets they have in their name. It’s about a mindset. There are those that have trained themselves to see an abundance around them and there are others who cannot help but fear that whatever they have will not be enough. Therefore, they hoard or greedily accumulate more.
How do you know what mindset you fall under? Do a quick self-check – In the past few weeks, have you been grateful for what you have, appreciative of others, been filled with a knowing that there is enough for everyone, celebrated other people, been generous, thought about how you can serve others and been truly happy? Or have you been ungrateful, judgmental of others, thought there was not enough to go round, jealous or envious of others, fearful and anxious, or mostly thinking “what is in it for me?”.
Perhaps from reading all that was just laid out, you can tell which category you fall into. If you find that you fall into the ‘lack’ mindset, determine today not to continue in it. Dear one, your life is worth more than the things you fear may not be enough. It is not worth it to continue living in fear of lack.
Recognize that you are loved and start to practice loving people. Dear woman, as you draw even closer to your heavenly Father, you’ll begin to see how He is enough for you. Even more, practice loving people by giving. This does not refer to giving money alone, your time too is valuable. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to act (Prov. 3:27). Give compliments, give smiles, give words of encouragement, give your talents. Give, what you have when you have it, and give thanks while at it. As you do these things intentionally, you’ll watch fear and greed melt away from your life. Give more generously till your overcome your fear for having nothing, or your greed for having more.
Article written by: Ifeoluwa Shoola
Citations: parameters for abundance or lack mentality culled from www.habitsforwellbeing.com