Give Until There Is Nothing Left
His way was to give first, borrow if he had to, and trust that Hashem would refill what he gave.
A teaching ofRav Yeshaya Steiner of Kerestirהרב ישעיה בן משה שטיינרProfile ›
This is not a saying of his but his way, as the printed accounts of his life tell it. In Liska he handed out challos at the Rebbe's table. In Kerestir he fed everyone who came. When Sanz asked him for a large sum, he emptied his pockets one after another. Those who wrote his life record that when nothing was left in his pocket he borrowed so that the giving could go on. His way was not to give from what remained, but to give first and trust that Hashem would send more. Chassidim said that because he gave so completely, Heaven kept replenishing what he had to give. The lesson is that generosity is not measured by how much one has. A person opens his hand with whatever is in it today, and then finds that more arrives, since Hashem is the Giver and we are His channels.
Source: His way of life, as described in the Hebrew encyclopedic biography (he.wikipedia, Yeshaya Steiner) and in Mofes HaDor (Lichtenstein and Rubin, Brooklyn 2010); no written saying of his is cited.
Waiting until you feel secure enough to give is a way of never giving. Today, choose one act of generosity that you would normally postpone: a donation, a meal for a family, or an hour for someone lonely. Do it before your reasons for delay arrive. Notice, over the next few days, that you did not end up poorer for it. If you can, give with your own hands and without announcement, in the spirit of someone who sees himself as a channel rather than an owner.