In the last month, I started to reflect on the power of gifting and the aspects of love reflected in gifting. I see gifting as the exchange of something freely without expectations of something back. I consider the power of words as a gift that I can give to others openly. Freely giving is one of the ways you can give abundance to others and back to the universe that provided it initially to you. This message came to me as I went back and forth with giving something to someone. It led me to question, “What are my standards of giving? What makes me feel called to give to someone or someplace?”
Tithe
If you are a follower of the Abrahamic religion, you may be familiar with the spiritual law of the tithe. Tithing means ‘10%’, where the idea of giving money to the church comes from. It is also where many understanding of giving comes from in relation to giving to causes. Personally, I have a standard of giving freely to those who have given me ‘spiritual food’. To freely give is to receive freely is one of my mottos. Plus, the items I have (money, physical things, etc.) would either be used by me or someone else. I did not include time in this standard because time is to be treated differently by everyone, including myself.
Love Languages
One of the love languages includes giving with giving gifts and receiving gifts. It is one of the ways to show love to another person. I do not think there is a point in stopping yourself from giving little when you know you can give big. In the long run, I believe holding yourself back from showing appreciation and love hurts you. In certain cultures and families, people have been taught to give more casually amongst each other outside of religious connections like friends, staff, teachers, and more.
Standards of Living in Giving
In my personal journey of giving, I learned much about myself and how I set my standards of giving. These internal living standards are your golden rules, behaviors, and archetypes. It is something that no one can take away from you but you do not need to scream them out into the world either. They are silent and everpresent in their way of living within you. In the aspect of giving, one of the ways you can look at your standard of living is to reflect on past examples of how you have freely given to people. Look at the moments you were happy to give. Look at the moments you were either sad or angry to give something. I suggest following this same pattern with what you have received in the past, too. To close, ask yourself about your view of giving and what you would change in the future.
