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

Last month we looked at the Shunamite woman. She is such an inspiration and an example of an aggressive giver that we should look at her story again for a few days. Aggressive means to attack, to be forceful, pushy, and to take the initiative. When you think of the word attack, usually, it has a negative connotation. This is one time however when being aggressive is a positive thing.

You can be aggressive in your giving. You can take the initiative in your giving. You don’t have to wait to be coerced, convinced and cornered before you give! An aggressive person is one who pushes, who is on the offensive, and who is not afraid to resist anything or anybody. An aggressive giver is a giver who attacks with his giving.

The woman of Shunem was a great woman; she was a noble woman. She could have stayed on her “high horse” and missed the opportunity to give. Yet we are told she persuaded or constrained Elisha to eat bread. One scholar says, “She laid hold on him.” In other words, she persuaded him by laying hold on him. She said to him, “I insist, you have to stop and eat.”

The aggressive giver is eager to give. He creates opportunities to give even when other people around him are not giving. Elisha did not come to the woman’s house, asking her for food or begging her for food: he was passing by and minding his own business. Then he got “arrested” by a pushy, aggressive giver! What an arrest! If she did not look for and create opportunities to give, she would not have persuaded Elisha. It was at her instance. The aggressive giver does not wait to hear a message on giving, before he or she gives.

Confession:
I am an aggressive giver. I take the initiative to give. I am eager to give. I look for and create opportunities to give.