Giving goes on everywhere in the world. The sun gives itself to us
every day. That flaming orb burns itself out, that we may live. The
rivers give themselves up to the sea. Seeds gives themselves up to the
season of harvest. Leaves give themselves over to death, that the land
might be robed, even for a brief moment, in a garment of glory. Giving
is, indeed, the message of the natural order.

Giving is in the nature of God. God gave the world its being. He
gave, humankind, Eden for a home. Even when we became His enemies, by
refusing to obey His disclosed will, God gave His friendship to us in
Christ. Christ is, in fact, God’s greatest gift of all. "God so
loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him
should not perish but have eternal life".(John 3:16) This is as
far as giving can go.

Paul asks this perceptive question, "He who did not spare his
own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things
with him?"(Rm.8:32) We might each ask ourselves, "Do I live
like a person who is grateful to such a giving God?"