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“To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.”
- Deuteronomy 10:14 NIV
Human beings are a selfish, possessive, and territorial species, something we share with many other animals. Consider the squirrel, who gathers her acorns and hides them for the winter, or the way in which many animals guard their territories and their food. But we should consider that the source of everything we have is ultimately God and thus should not act as if our “possessions” are really ours. This is reminiscent of the contrast between the early European settlers of the Americas and the indigenous peoples they encountered. The European settlers believed that if they settled on the land and mixed their labors with it, it would become their possession.
Most indigenous peoples considered that the land belonged to no one and that you couldn’t own the land.
For them, it was more as if you belonged to the land than that the land belonged to you. In a similar way, we should consider that we belong to God, as does everything in heaven and earth. This simple change in perspective is radical, and if you really start thinking in this new way, your giving will be transformed. I remember once complimenting my father on how generous he and my mother were about giving to others, and also to charity. And he said rather matter of factly that they didn’t consider it “their money,” but rather God’s money. Be a good steward of God’s bounty.
– Christopher Simon
