There is an old fable about two brothers who shared a field, and each night they divided evenly among them the grain they had ground together for that day. One brother lived alone. The other had a wife and a large family. One day the single brother said to himself, “This really isn’t fair. It’s not fair that we divide the grain evenly. I have only myself to take care of, and my brother has this huge family to feed.” So each night he secretly took some of his grain to his brother’s granary to see to it that he would never run out. The married brother said to himself, “It is not fair that we divide the grain evenly because I have children to provide for me in my old age and my brother has no one. What will he do?” So each night he secretly took some of his grain to his brother’s granary. The result was that both of them always found their supply of grain generously replenished every day. Grateful generosity replenishes your life, and it replenishes the lives of those around you. Somebody once told me that generosity is the difference between living the good life and discovering the real life. Grateful generosity is the evidence of a life lived in harmony with God.
– Dr. Tim Thompson