Giving is Good for You

Friday - November 26th

Scripture to Read Today: Acts 20:22-35

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"...Remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

Acts 20:35

Today shoppers shop with gift-giving in mind. With the launch of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the Friday after Thanksgiving began to be seen by retailers and shoppers alike as the best day to kick off Christmas shopping. The term "Black Friday" began to be applied to the day after Thanksgiving in the 1960s when retailers began to declare the day as the day they went from their books being in the red (negative) to being in the black (positive).

As online shopping grew in the first two decades of the twenty-first century, the Monday following Thanksgiving began to be known and then promoted by online retailers as "Cyber Monday." As a result, both Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become critical to annual sales for retailers.

Black Friday.com includes these statistics:

• Over the years, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have vied for dominance. In 2020, Cyber Monday was the top day consumers planned to shop, with 30% saying they planned to shop Cyber Monday sales, compared to 24% saying they planned to shop on Black Friday.

• In 2020, Thanksgiving weekend (Turkey Day through Cyber Monday) drew 186.4 million U.S. shoppers.

• During the five-day Thanksgiving weekend 2020, shoppers spent an average of $311.75 on holiday purchases.

The National Retail Federation says that each year more gifts are bought on either Black Friday or Cyber Monday than any other day of the year.

Giving gifts to others is good for us. Even shopping with others in mind can help get our focus off of ourselves. Physical and mental health professionals tell us that thinking about what we will give to others and then completing the actual act of giving can improve our health.

Jesus said it clearly, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). Our Lord says that giving blesses us more than getting. Our spiritual well-being even improves as we give. So if you shop today, this weekend, Monday, or any day with others in mind, you may improve your own well-being. Improving your health may not be your motivation or purpose in shopping for gifts to give others, but it is a nice by-product!

What we give blesses us more than what we get!