“Give and you shall receive, much more than you ever thought possible. Give and give again. Keep hoping, keep trying, keep giving! People who give will never be poor.
If you follow this advice, within a few generations, people will never have to feel sorry for poor little beggar children again, because there won’t be any! The world has plenty of room, riches, money, and beauty. God has created enough for each and every one of us. Let us begin by dividing it more fairly.”
Anne Frank in Anne Frank’s Takes from the Secret Annex (London: Halban, 2012), diary post for 26 March 1944.
Later in this diary post Anne Frank notes the source of this thinking, the perspective she learned from her grandmother who often said: “People who give will never be poor.” I marvel at the impact we can have on others when we teach them about God’s abundance and how He instructs us to enjoy and share it all around.
Today I am in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to impart such thinking to the board, faculty, and staff of Sioux Falls Seminary and to celebrate the inauguration of Greg Henson as president. Greg blessed me by inviting me to speak to the seminary family that he now serves and to offer the benediction prayer at his installation service.