If I promised I wasn’t trying to boast, could I tell you the story of the $600 tip? Years ago, my buddy Jason and I got some late-night appetizers at Applebee’s. After learning about the biggest tip our bartender had ever heard of ($300), I whispered to Jason, “Let’s give her $300 . . . each!” And we did! We scribbled the absurd amount on our bills, scurried out the doors, and jumped into our cars before she could check the receipts. But before we drove out of the parking lot, the front doors of Applebee’s flew open and a shocked, trembling, wide-eyed, hands-extended bartender came rushing out. Jason and I sped away, laughing uncontrollably all the way home.

That night I learned a valuable spiritual lesson—the result of extreme generosity is joy. I remember the joy of that night. I remember how happy it made me to give an absurd amount. I remember being living proof of Jesus’ words, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Have you ever experienced that kind of blessed joy?

I’m not sure if you’ve been there, but your Savior has. Millennia ago, he didn’t give $600 but his very life to make you eternally happy. The author to the Hebrews writes, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross” (12:2). The cross hurt like hell (literally), but the thought of you being with God forever gave Jesus great joy. What a Savior! What a Giver!

Reflect on Jesus’ gift, and you just might feel more blessed than a bartender with $600 in her pocket.