Counting up on The Top 10 List Of Things YOU Can Do To Create World Peace, we now explore #6 which is . . .

Give

It is a spiritual truth that what you give comes back to you. Many of us remember the sayings from the Bible, “as you give, so shall you receive.” We may also sing songs in church like, “Give yourself to love, if love is what you’re after.”

This Universal Truth often doesn’t make sense at an intellectual level. It seems contradictory that if we would like more of something, that we should give it away. For example if we would like more financial abundance, we must give away some money. (All the books I have read and studied talk about tithing 10%). If we would like to have more love in our life, we should give more love to others. But, how can we give money away when we don’t have that much to give? How can we give love away when we don’t feel like we have any love?

This is a question I, too, have asked myself. To me, the answer lies in the conceptual process. When I give it means I am coming from a place of fullness. When I give money, my mind knows that I have the money to give. When I give love, I know that I have love to give.

It is about Faith. The Bible talks about Faith in great detail. “That each and every one of us should have the faith of a mustard seed,” it says. Every time in my life when I have given money even when I really didn’t feel I had any to give, the Universe has compensated me. If I am clinging desperately to my money feeling I don’t have enough to give, than I don’t and my situation gets worse. When I give, even when I don’t think I have a lot to give, my subconscious mind says that I have enough to give and like I talked about earlier, what you believe becomes your reality.

In the book The Twelve Conditions of a Miracle, Dr. Michael Abrams talks about circulation and says that money, like life, must be constantly circulating or flowing. There are many ways you can give, not just financially. In Stretton Smith’s 4T Prosperity program, he says that there are three things you can “tithe” or give and they are:

• Time
• Treasure
• Talent

Again, most spiritual books I have read say that a 10% financial tithe from your income is an appropriate amount. To me, it doesn’t matter the amount, just that it is consistent and regular. Although sometimes I may not give as much financially, I volunteer my time and talent for appropriate causes. Lately though, I have been feeling like more money is going out than is coming in. I have been feeling fearful of not having money. I know that now is when I need to tithe most. I am re-committing to tithe regularly. Some resources that address the concept of tithing are:

- The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason
- Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill
- Idea Tithing by Mark Victor Hansen
- Working with the Law by Raymond Holliwell
- 4T Prosperity Program by Stretton Smith

Speaking on the concept of giving, I have noticed that one of the most important things you can give to someone is an acknowledgement of how special they are in your life. I have tried to send “Thank You” cards to the hosts of all of my book signing events, etc. You would be amazed how many of them tell me that I was the first person that ever thanked or acknowledged them for what they did.

Or what about a co-worker who always goes the extra mile? Have you acknowledged them in a while? What about the friend who has stood by you during all your up’s and down’s? Have you thanked him or her lately? What about the person that inspired you to do something you wouldn’t normally do? Did you thank him or her? What about acknowledging that stranger who smiled at you on the street?

A way to acknowledge strangers or acquaintances is through an idea that I came up with called the Peace Prize. I would like to give you one for being peaceful and taking positive steps toward creating peace in your life and the world. You may go to www.peacefulearth.org and fill in your address information and we will send you a FREE Peace Prize. (These are 3X4 laminated cards that have to be delivered by mail.) The Peace Prize is an award that you give to someone that you see being peaceful or kind. It is a way to acknowledge them.

The Peace Prize says: “You have been given this award because someone recognizes the peace within you. By your single act of peace, you have made a difference in the world.”

These awards are a way of providing positive reinforcement for kind or peaceful acts. If people are acknowledged for positive things they do, they tend to keep doing more of them. I got the idea for the Peace Prize when I was looking up recipients for the Nobel Peace Prize on the internet. As I scanned the list of recipients and realized all the great things they did in their life, I thought about all the people I knew who could just as well be a recipient of such a prize, but would never be acknowledged. Then I thought to myself, “what if all of us could be awarded for our individual acts of peace?” Thus the idea for the Peace Prize was born.

There is a second benefit to the Peace Prize as well. It is a spiritual truth that what you look for expands. Have you ever noticed that when you see violence on T.V. or you read about violence in the paper, then you notice people fighting around you, or you notice how angry or rude people are? When I set out on a mission to award a Peace Prize, I started seeing people everywhere being kind. I realized that the man that held the door open was polite, that the woman at the checkout stand was so friendly, that the stranger I passed, smiled at me. I love the fact that when I’m looking for people to hand these prizes out to, I realize I don’t have enough because there are so many people being peaceful and kind.

This has also been a great task to give children. I give them the award and tell them to find someone being peaceful or kind to give the award to. Their eyes light up and they’re on a mission… The Peace Prize is a way to continually train our minds to look for the positive. I give them to waitresses who are kind, people I see smiling on the street, etc.

In summary, take a look at your life and what you feel like you are “lacking” and give to others whatever it is that you feel you yourself lack.

© Lisa Hepner
Life Channels Staff Writer
All Rights Reserved

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