Over our 25 years, HEARTLIGHT.org has passed along the creative blessings of many famous authors who graciously shared their writing with our readers. This year as we celebrate "Shining the Light" for a quarter-century, we will repeat some of Max Lucado's previous posts over the years. Be blessed by Max's ability to creatively and succinctly touch our hearts.

In the days when I was a missionary in Brazil, I went to visit one of our church leaders. We hadn't seen him for several Sundays. Friends told me he had inherited three hundred dollars and was constructing, by hand, a one-room house.

When he gave me a tour of the project, it took about twenty seconds.

I told him we had missed him and that the church needed him back. He grew quiet and turned and looked at his house. His eyes were moist.

"You're right, Max," he confessed, "I guess I just got too greedy."

Greedy? I wanted to say, You're building a hut in a swamp, and you call it greed?

But he was right. Greed is relative. Greed is not defined by what something costs; it is measured by what it costs you.

If anything costs you your family or your faith, the price is too high!

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? (Matthew 16:24-26 NLT)

I guess I got too greedy.

We are partnered with Compassion International and would love for you to consider sponsoring a child in Brazil!

Check out this special article about the impact your generosity can make. You will get to meet Polet and how she has overcome all sorts of obstacles to thrive through the help of Jesus and her friends at Compassion: