The K Mills

I write it. You read it. That's it.

Give It Away: The Giving Experiments (part 3)

This is Part 3 in a 4-part series on Giving. Specifically, giving passionately. (You might wanna go read the others I wrote first. Not required reading, but just a suggestion…)

Aside from Books, I’m also passionate about Music. Music not only helps me relax and worship God more intimately, but there’s been numerous times where He’s spoken into my life directly through songs. As in, He’s told me exactly what I needed to hear at the time through a singer’s lyrics. (It’s always quite cool when that happens.)

Every December I scour the music sites in search of only the best Christmas songs to add to my collection. Most of the stuff I hear is bland or just uninspired, so I’m quite picky when I find a song I like. Well, this year I found some really good stuff, and I wanted to share it with someone else.

I have a handful of friends who I know appreciate music as much as I do, so I created a custom playlist on iTunes and sent it to them. It was about $10 each, so it cost me around $30 overall. Not a bad investment, I figure, lovin’ on people with the gift of music. To be perfectly honest, though, I wasn’t giving to them as part of the experiment. I’m a passionate guy, I love giving, so giving music comes naturally to me.

I also sent a former missionary student of ours (from our time in Indonesia) a flash drive filled with MP3s that I no longer wanted. (I figure I PAID for ‘em. Might as well send them to someone else to enjoy, since the songs didn’t rate high enough for me to keep. And for those who are curious, that would be a rating of 3 stars or above. 3 Stars = I’d like to hear it again. 4 Stars = I REALLY like this song. And 5 Stars? Well, if it’s a 5 Star song you’d best not play it while I’m in a coma. ‘Cause I won’t be waking up, people.)

Those were what I gave away. And the return? Well, the return has been shocking.

The other weeknight a friend dropped by the house. I had asked him a few weeks ago if he happened to have an older iPod shuffle on hand, the postage stamp version from a few years ago. I just wanted to have something to plug into in the car stereo once in a while, enjoy my tunes on the road (or in the sauna at the gym). He said he did, and he’d drop it by that evening. So I was pretty stoked when he came in and handed me the box with the iPod inside.

As I looked closer at the box, however, I saw it was not only wrapped, it was unopened. At first I thought he had found the original box and sealed it up, to make it look like new. But as I opened it, I realized this wasn’t the case. This box WAS new. Brand spankin’ new. And unopened. And inside was a brand new, state-of-the-art 4gb iPod Shuffle. Titanium. Engraved with a consolidated version of my Mills Creative Minds scripture, no less. (Colossians 1:16)

Blew. Me. Away.

I’m used to being the guy who GIVES this stuff. To other people. Aside from my MacBook, given to me from my wife, this is the biggest Mac-related gift I’ve ever received. I’m still in shock, to tell the truth.

Now, you might think this was just a coincidence. That my giving music and receiving an iPod are completely unrelated. But if that IS what you think, then you’ve obviously missed the last two posts. :) There is a direct link between what we give and what we receive, people, and even though it’s not always clear or in proportion (which is a good thing), it’s there. It exists. I’m convinced of it.

My hope is that some of you reading this will be changed as I’ve been changed. Will stop looking at your life as what you don’t have, but see what you DO have. And then you’ll take the next step to release your white-knuckled grip on your STUFF and give some of it away. Sacrificially. Passionately. Immediately.

Because the mysterious truth about how giving works has already been clearly stated:

Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

– Kevin

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