Give away to get.

     Today I was playing golf with a friend. I was pretty hot, pretty tired, but we were having fun. Then my friend hit a shot into the woods. He was like, "Oh, I really hope I find my ball. It was a good one." Well, he never found his ball, and I could see how disappointed he was. Not making a big deal out of it, I reached into my golf bag and tossed him a really good ball and said, "Here, you can have this one." Well, he hit his shot and when I started walking I hardly even took a single step and there, right in front of me, nestled down in the grass was a brand new ball that was way better than even the really good ball I'd given my friend.
     That is the principle of give away to get.
     It works. It's simple. The principle is if you're already full, you have no place inside you to receive. And when you alleviate that fullness by giving something away, you have room to receive. I've seen it happen time and time again in my life. Once, for the longest time, I was hesitating to give away all these clothes I hadn't been wearing. But maybe some day I'll wear them, I'd tell myself. Nah. Finally I gave them away. In less than two weeks I got a package in the mail. It was from my brother, filled with the nicest clothes you could imagine. Clothes MUCH BETTER than the ones I'd given away.
     Somebody once told me there's a saying: "You can't outgive God." And that means, whatever you give away, God is going to replace with MORE than you've given.
     I have to tell you this whole process is pretty mysterious to me, but I believe it's true. If you're skeptical, do a few experiments with giving. See what happens. If you have some success, you can increase the experiment.
     One warning. If you're giving out of a hardened heart just as a technique to get more, it won't work. You've got to give from a generous heart, a heart that really wants to help others.
      You've got plenty to give. Possessions, time, talent, attention. Start giving it away. You may find that you'll want to continue.