Tipping Tells A Story

Restaurant tip charts/calculators amuse me.  It's as if we don't trust ourselves to be fair, or we don't want to think about what is a great tip, a generous tip. 

There is also the cliche, but perhaps true, gender divide.  Women will often calculate down a check or tip to the penny (control, control, control) while men often just throw money into a pot and split is up (who cares?).

Either way, a tip is a tangible, response to something internal.  It is evidence of what value you put on the person/service/product.

Which lead me to think about the connection between my faith and my responses to temptation or trials.  What does the evidence show?  What value do I put on temptation/trials?

I just learned that in the book of James, 54 of the 108 verses in the whole epistle use an imperative verb (expressing urgency as a command or unavoidable fact).  It's fair to say, James is bossy.

The first command is to count is all joy when one experiences trials (or temptations) because it produces perseverance.

To count it all joy is to consider as a deliberate conclusion without feelings.  To logically land on trials/temptation as bringing personal  joy.  What is the value of perseverance?  Seriously, would not joy come from not having to deal with or confront trials and temptation?

Scenario:  I get news of someone in need.  It's a big need.  What shapes my response?  I am tempted to pull out life's tip chart and calculate what I am comfortably willing to give in terms of time, money, attention--which may or may not help the person in need. 

Yet, this is not a faithful response it is a common sense, frankly selfish response.  The laugh out loud, adrenaline pumping, joy producing response is to move into the arena of uncomfortable and give in a manner that is not appropriate but is generous, much more than my personal tip chart. 

So I see the need, hear of the need and from a place of deliberate joy go about the business of giving much more, as much more has been given to me?