Giving of ourselves is about more than writing a check; it’s about pouring your life—your time, wisdom, and resources—into another person.

"The joy of giving life."

When I hear those words, I think “He’s going to ask me to donate blood… or an organ!”

Not it.

The joy I’m speaking of comes from watching a man go “all in” for Jesus Christ and then seeing God redeem his marriage, his children, his business, his relationships. Everything. That’s life for me. Watching God radically transform a young man before he goes his own way and totally screws up his life.

It’s the life that sweeps over us after we’ve started to care for another’s spiritual life. This quote from Nate Larkin’s book Samson & the Pirate Monks has stuck with me…

“When we make another man’s progress our concern, giving him a listening ear and a caring heart and opening ourselves as a conduit for God’s grace, we find our own walk propelled to a whole new level. We are truly helped by helping, taught by teaching, and encouraged by encouraging.”

I KNOW in my soul that my real life began when I embraced Christ and accepted His call to be an ambassador for Him. After a period of preparation in a Masterlife discipleship group, I began to invest in the lives of others for Kingdom purposes. First my own children, then younger men in my church, then at work, and through High Tech Ministries. Little by little, I took more and more risk with people who were further and further away from the “safety” of my “holy huddle”. Now I show up for the first night of my new Radical Mentoring groups and meet most of the guys I’ll invest in for the first time.

I’ve also learned that the best antidote for selfishness is giving… not of your money but your time and emotional energy. Lots of men give their money. That’s easier, because their time is SO valuable to them. But isn’t now the time to start to move away from just writing checks and start to invest in others—to trust God to cover gaps in your businesses and your families? Besides, when you’re serving others selflessly, you’re modeling empathy and selflessness for your wife and kids.

Question: What keeps you from having ‘life to the full’ by investing in others?