奧西奧拉．麥卡蒂（Oseola McCarty）做了70年的洗衣女工，日復一日地用手搓洗、烘乾和熨燙衣服，終於在86歲那年可以退休了。多年來，她省吃儉用，把微薄的收入存起來。但她竟然捐贈了15萬美元給附近的大學設立獎學金基金，幫助貧困的學生，令她的社區居民感到驚訝。她大方無私地捐贈，激勵了數百人紛紛仿效，讓基金的金額增加了兩倍。

奧西奧拉明白，財富真正的價值不在於為自己謀利，而在於造福他人。使徒保羅敦促提摩太，勸勉那些今世富足的人要「在好事上富足，甘心施捨」（提摩太前書6章18節）。我們每個人都是財富的管家，這些財富可以是金錢或是其他資源。保羅勸誡我們，不要冀望靠不住的錢財，而是要單單倚靠上帝（17節），藉著「甘心施捨，樂意供給人」（18節），將財寶積攢在天上。

從上帝的經濟理論來看，自私吝嗇只會讓人感到空虛；出於愛而給予他人，才能得到滿足。不要貪圖更多，而是既敬虔又知足，才是真正的財富（6節）。如果我們像奧西奧拉那樣，大方無私地與人分享我們所擁有的資源，結果會是怎樣呢？今天，讓我們在上帝的帶領下，多多行善，慷慨給予吧！

After seven decades of hard work as a washerwoman—scrubbing, drying, and pressing clothes by hand—Oseola McCarty was finally ready to retire at the age of eighty-six. She had scrupulously saved her meager earnings all those years, and to the amazement of her community, Oseola donated $150,000 to the nearby university to create a scholarship fund for needy students. Inspired by her selfless gift, hundreds of people donated enough to triple her endowment.

Oseola understood the true value of her wealth was not in using it for her own gain, but to bless others. The apostle Paul exhorted Timothy to command those who are rich in this present world “to be rich in good deeds” (1 Timothy 6:18). Each of us has been given wealth to steward, whether it’s in the form of financial means or other resources. Instead of trusting in our resources, Paul cautions us to put our hope only in God (v. 17) and to lay up treasure in heaven by being “generous and willing to share” (v. 18).

In God’s economy, withholding and not being generous only leads to emptiness. Giving to others out of love is the way to fulfillment. To have both godliness and contentment with what we have, instead of striving for more, is great gain (v. 6). What would it look like for us to be generous with our resources, as Oseola was? Let us strive to be rich in good deeds today as God leads us.