It is rather amazing to me that there are so many people in our nation and in and around our own lives who possess many years of personal experience in the living of their lives, but yet have little if any common sense or understanding as to how to treat themselves and the other people around them. Longevity of life should not just be measured in years on earth. Happiness, love, caring, involvement with others, and personal relationships ought also to be measured, treasured, and grow in size, stature, and amount as the years, that pass us by, increase.

For happiness in life to abound, a person must learn how to get involved with and serve other people and become very generous with the use of his own resources, time, talent, and finances. As we age, mature, and grow in our knowledge, understanding, and personal experiences from interactions with other people, we should become wiser with time. We should learn as we go along life’s path so that by the time we reach our senior years we should have great wisdom and the ability as well as the desire to share what we have learned with other people, particularly with those younger ones who are in the struggling time of their lives. The truths of life and the wise way to do things can only be learned from those older folks who have learned how to do, accomplish, and enjoy the blessings that these “truths of life” provide. Such knowledge was initially learned by us trough trial and error and by following the guidance of those men and women who went before us and achieved great and lasting success.

Real and true maturity in life is always demonstrated by the exhibition of emotional stability by an individual. That really means that as an emotionally stable person, you have and maintain total control over all of your emotions at all times. You never get too high, too excited, or too celebratory over your positive experiences or accomplishments. And you never allow yourself to get too low, unhappy, or dejected whenever you experience failure or things and people moving against you and your efforts….Stay cool. Stay calm. Stay steady…emotionally.

Maturity is also displayed by your happy countenanced generosity to other people who are in real need of assistance. Joyous generous giving of your resources to help another less fortunate person regardless of whether you are ever repaid, is certainly the sign of a giver and a winner in life.

As a word of caution, I must tell you that whenever you open yourself up to helping others, there will be some people who will take advantage of your generosity who really don’t require it…That is O.K. Help them anyway. You see, you never can tell who these take-advantage-of-you people are until after they have taken advantage of you. When it happens to you, don’t get mad or upset,….learn from the experience. But do not stop being generous. You are to continue to give, assist, and help others who need help.

Always be a giver not a taker. Always have and display a cheerful positive mental attitude. Always give praise and honor and glory to your God. Let your example do most of your talking for you.

A story I once read does a great job of explaining what I am trying to communicate to you. You see friends, the heart of a man cannot be determined by the size of his pocketbook.

The Bible tells us specifically in The Book of Mark, Chapter 8, verses 36–37 NKJV:

(36) “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world,
and loses his own soul?

(37) Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Back to the story…..

Not a lot of press coverage was ever given to the tough Argentine golfer Robert De Vincenzo, but he proved through his own actions just how great of a person and of a man after God’s own heart, he really was.

After winning a golf tournament, De Vincenzo received his winnings check on the 18th green, he flashed a big smile for the cameras and then walked alone to the clubhouse. As he walked over to his car, he was approached by a sad-eyed young woman who said to him, “It’s a good day for you, but I have a baby with an incurable disease. It is of the blood and the doctors say she will die.” De Vincenzo paused and then asked, “May I help your little girl?” He then took out a pen, endorsed his winning check, and then pressed it into her hand. “Make some good days for the baby,” he said.

A week later as he was having lunch at the country club, a PGA official approached him, saying, “Some of the boys in the parking lot told me you met a young woman after you won the tournament.” De Vincenzo nodded. The official said, “Well, she’s a phony. She has no sick baby. She fleeced you, my friend.”

The golfer looked up and asked, “You mean that there is no baby who is dying without hope?” This time the PGA official nodded. De Vincenzo grinned and said, “That’s the best news I’ve heard all week!”

Oh dear friends…..your positive mental attitude, your living life from the aspect of abundance rather than scarcity, and your understanding that random acts of kindness are what really gives and adds more and more value to your life are the very things, manners, and ways that draw the attention of God to you. Whenever you do the right thing with the desire and intention to help others before considering your own personal needs, then God will indeed reward you greatly in some other area of your life.

You see, no man alive is able to out-give God. God always rewards the doing of good by one of His created people to another of his creations. His Word tells us specifically that if we will but first give….then He promises that we will then, secondly, begin to receive His blessings, rewards, and benefits. God never goes back on His promises. He always keeps them. It is for this very fact and reason that you can trust God for everything you truly need in the living of your life.

And that is why you can believe that everything you freely give to other people will be as if you are giving it to yourself. Living is giving, and the more you give, the more you shall receive! That friend is God’s promise to you. So the real secret to living a successful and very happy life is to always be of a positive and joyful nature and possess a happy countenance and character, and then insure that you are a generous servant to all other people with whom you come into contact. Give and give some more and then continue to give generously not expecting anything in return…that is what God likes the best!

When you “cast your bread upon the water” and continue casting it through love and service to others, God will always return it to you in greater quantities than you cast it out. By doing this sort of thing for the benefit of other people, you will only continue to increase your own rewards and blessings. For this exact reason you will come to realize and understand that what you freely and generously give to others, you will, in fact, be giving the very same thing(s) back to yourself!
 

Peace and Love To All of You………………………..Poppa Bear