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Crazy Money – Graduation Gift: Gratitude and Generosity Lesson

It’s Crazy Money Day! Do you remember the speech at your graduation?

I don’t remember most graduation speeches, but here’s a memorable one. Business owner Robert Hale Jr., CEO of Granite Telecommunications, gave the commencement address at Quincy College, near Boston. In addition to his talk, he gave the nearly 500 grads 2 envelopes. Each held $500. They were instructed to keep one as a gift and to give the other to a nonprofit or individual who needed it more than them. Because they had persevered through the challenges of Covid, he wanted to help them celebrate their achievement.

Those envelopes reminded me of God’s treatment of us. He wants us to persevere with an attitude of gratitude and generosity. He gives us what we need and wants us to share with others. When we live Kingdom-minded, we’re grateful for all God provides. It’s humbling to recognize that everything we have is a result of His great mercy. True generosity is an outward, material expression of a loving and obedient heart. It conforms us into the image of Christ. When you make generosity your highest financial priority you’ll find that money loses its grip on your heart. You’ll learn to say “No” to things today in order to have money to give away tomorrow. You experience less stress, greater joy and mysteriously discover that God faithfully provides your every need. We’re naturally generous towards ourselves. The challenge is to become generous towards God and others. “…whatever you do for one of the least of the brothers and sisters of Christ, you do for Him.” (Matthew 35: 40 paraphrased)

And if you’ve been helped by Crown or this radio station, can I ask you to begin supporting us? If you already do, thank you for your generosity! You can begin giving today at crown.org.