Chapter twelve
GIVING LIGHT
When I was little, we had no match boxes. It was unpopular. Only one man who was privileged to come from town could afford one. The man had a special lamp which he kept in his compound. He allowed members of the village community come get light from that lamp. From his house, every home could get the fire to cook meals and for illumination during the night. That man practically gave his light.
Inside everyone is a store of potential light energy. Everyone has a large tank of it. The problem is that we either don’t know that we have it or we think what we have is too little. Just as the people of my village community had lamps and stoves but had no light, we have potentials inside us begging for the man who would give or share his light with us.
Now you are the man with tremendous light energy, blazing talent, gifts and audacious capability. You are doing great with your light. What you do need as you grow with your light is the ability to give it. Persons with huge potentials are waiting on you to trigger them into the reality of their gifts.
I’m often amazed at what happens when there is a transfer of anointing from a senior pastor to his junior pastor. Once there is a transfer, everything the senior pastor can do spiritually will be transferred to the junior ones.
What you have inside you is a light that can trigger the potentials of many persons. Did I mean persons? Yes! Your potential can never finish by sharing, rather it multiplies. When one lit a candle, the light from that candle can lit a million candles. When you share your talent with people and you help them discover their talent, what you are doing is increasing influence.
Like the man in my childhood village to whom everyone ran for a share of his light, everyone naturally runs to the man who is ready to share his gifting and talents. People run to pastors because pastors share the grace and inspiration of God. People run to a life coach or marriage adviser because they share the light of knowledge they carry with them. If you want people running to you, give.
The question that arrives then is what do you give? The question I’d ask you is what do you have? You can’t give what you don’t have. If you have ten thousand dollars, you can give more than that. You can only give ten thousand dollars or less.
You have what many persons don’t have. It’s best to look inward. That talent you have can be shared with people. If you can sing, teach others to sing, if you can dance, teach others to dance, if you can write, help those who want to write, if you can act, future actors could come through you. You become bigger only when you give.
All those around me tend to become writers over time. I advise people to take up writing even if all they can write is about themselves and I’ve raised five and still counting.
As a teacher, so much from me goes to my pupils and students who arrive from various backgrounds. I share with them my knowledge and experience with the hope that they become better persons in the future. They carry my light with them because I gave them. I remember too that quite a lot about me arrived because some person offered to give me their light.
As a teenager at the university, I had challenges with my dress sense. I often ran away from any opportunity to speak that attracted attention to me. I refused to take up responsibility in the student fellowship I attended because I dressed oddly. I didn’t always feel comfortable about it but I couldn’t help it. My pastor offered to give me some clothes and that was the turning point. I accepted the position in the church and before long built my speaking capacity and faith. I developed self-confidence and believed there was more in me even when my dress sense didn’t really improve beyond the shirt and trouser that my pastor gave me. That pastor gave his light to me.
Society encourages giving as a means to receive. Many nongovernmental organizations and international organizations center on offering aid and support to the less privileged nation. The reality in giving is that when one gives to some other person, the giving doesn’t stop at the person; it builds a chain of givers. The person who has being given is often influenced to also give to those lesser than he is. For example, if you give a father one hundred dollars, he gives his wife, a friend, and his children take a part of it. His wife may also have a friend who she can offer a tangible support though it’s not in the size of that which her husband gave her.
A cliché holds that “givers never lack”. Givers actually do not lack. Someone will say oh! The statement is for those having money; I don’t have money so I can’t give. Well, the reality of that statement is that money or tangibles are not the only things you could give. You could give your talent, time and skill.
Many are hoping that you’d’ find time to show them how you came about your success. They are waiting for you.