One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Proverbs 11:24-25
“A Phoenix gas station owner is losing money at his pumps to try and help his customers. Jaswiendre Singh owns the station at the corner of Osborn Road and 20th Street. He showed us that his supplier sells him gas at $5.66 a gallon as of Wednesday night. But Singh is selling the gas for $5.19 a gallon. That is 47 cents cheaper than the purchase price.
With customers buying around 1,000 gallons per day on average, Singh is losing out on around $500 a day. But he says it’s worth it. “To give a break to the customer and my community. People don’t have the money right now,” Singh said. “My mother and my father did teach us to help if you have something. If you have something you have to share with other people.” Singh gives praise to God for his ability to help others. He and his wife are working more to offset the losses they are feeling at the pump. They make their money inside the store.
When we spoke to Singh in March, he was selling his gas for 10 cents less than he bought it per gallon. With prices going up around a dollar more a gallon since then, he wanted to try and help as much as he could and lowered the price even more. “God gave me help. It doesn’t matter. We are not here to make money right now. I’m very happy to help the other people.”
Jaswiendre Singh in “Phoenix gas station owner sells cheaper gas to help others” as reported by Michael Raimondi on 8 June 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona, on Arizona’s Family News. Special thanks to Randy Bury, daily reader and dear friend who shared this piece with me.
Happy Father’s Day to my dad and to all the father’s out there reading this. It is a good lesson for Father’s Day as it shows the impact of generous parents. Notice at least five layers to Jaswiendre Singh’s story. They are insightful for all of us.
1. The generous person attunes to the needs of others. “To give a break to the customer and my community. People don’t have the money right now,”
2. The generous person learned about generosity from his parents. “My mother and my father did teach us to help if you have something. If you have something you have to share with other people.”
3. The generous person gives praise to God. “Singh gives praise to God for his ability to help others.”
4. The generous person works even harder in difficult times for the benefit of others. “He and his wife are working more to offset the losses they are feeling at the pump. They make their money inside the store.”
5. The generous person realizes that helping others is more important than personal gain. “God gave me help. It doesn’t matter. We are not here to make money right now. I’m very happy to help the other people.”
May this example inspire all of us to live out the meaning of today’s Scripture before a watching world.
God help us attune to the needs of others, teach our children to be generous, give praise to You for the privilege of being generous, work harder in hard times to help others, and realize that providing this help is more important than making gain for ourselves knowing that you will look after us. Amen.