8 Now it happened one day that Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a notable woman, and she persuaded him to eat some food. So it was, as often as he passed by, he would turn in there to eat some food.
2 Kings 4:8
The Shunammite woman was the one who persuaded Elisha to stop and eat. Her action was commendable and the perfect example of domestic hospitality. However, there was much more than that. She was on a self-given spiritual assignment. How do I know that? She did it habitually, not once, but as often as Elisha passed by, he stopped to eat. To initiate a good thing once, is easy for some people, sustaining it however, is where a lot of believers fall by the wayside.
An aggressive giver is a habitual giver. An aggressive giver gives as a lifestyle. It should not be that you hear a message that tickles your emotions or worse still, pricks your selfish conscience and so you write one big cheque. When brethren do this, I often jokingly call this a “guilt offering.” For many, it takes two more years before they write another cheque to the kingdom. That is like an electrical “partial contact.”
Today they make contact and after that they are not predictable. God cannot rely on them. That is not what an aggressive giver does.
An aggressive giver is a habitual giver. You know a habitual giver when the person gives at every opportunity. It may not always be money; it may be time, opportunities to others, or material things that can only come from a heart of giving.
Each time it’s my birthday, Pastor Nkechi and I get into a “fight” when she tells church members to give to me, because I want people to give to me voluntarily. Then she says, “I want them to have this opportunity so that they can be blessed.” Much as I appreciate that, and it is true, it still embarrasses us as pastors that it’s only when my birthday comes that some people wake up and give their annual gift to their pastor! They are not habitual givers.
Confession:
I am a habitual giver. I have a lifestyle of giving. God can rely on my giving. I don’t wait for special occasions to give. At every moment and every season, I give my money, material things and time.
