Do you consider yourself to be a generous person? Why do you consider certain people to be generous? How would you define generosity? Is there a certain percentage of your time or your income that you need to give to be generous? Do you have to have a certain frame of mind for you to have in order to be generous? Let me tell you what God has told me about how generosity brings hope.
The concept of generosity is spelled out clearly to me. Generosity does have to come with the right attitude. I could give millions of dollars away for the wrong reasons and it is not being generous. I see this clearly in 2 Corinthians 9:7, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (ESV) I need to be a cheerful giver not a grumpy giver or a I have to give giver. Neither of those would be generous. Proverbs 11:24-25 would confirm this understanding, “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. Proverbs 11:24-25 (ESV)
I found that the amount that I give is not what matters but rather am I giving out of what I might need to buy some necessity I believe that this message is state clearly by Jesus. “Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, ‘Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.’” Like 21:1-4 (ESV)
The last thing though to me is kind of tricky. But this is where I find hope. Luke 6:38 indicates that I will be rewarded for my generosity. But given the other passages I have quoted here and many others in the Bible it is clear to me that my motivation for giving should not be my own reward even though I will be rewarded for my generosity. “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure, you use it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38 (ESV)
All I must do is look to my God to see true complete generosity. My Heavenly Father gave us eternal life by sacrificing His only begotten Son. Jesus willingly gave up His own life that I might have eternal life. I believe that Jesus not only gave up His own life but for a moment in time He willingly became seperaed from His Father because He took my sins upon Himself that I might be saved. The Apostle Paul makes this very clear when he says, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) I want to now share with you if you do not know how or you do not know Jesus you can find out how you can Know Him here.
I pray that you will become generous in giving your time talent and riches because you want to be generous. I hope you look to the example of my Heavenly Father to understand true generosity In doing so I know you will have hope as I do. It is this forgiveness that brings me hope and it is in granting others forgiveness we know for certain that we too are forgiven. The knowledge of being forgiven brings me hope. Remember though that all sin is forgivable except the sin of unbelieve in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross satisfied the penalty for my sins and yours as well. It satisfied all my sins from the past, in the present, and in the future. My penalty and yours were satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. It was also God’s greatest act of faithfulness because “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) Because wisdom shows us, we need to believe in Jesus. I hope that you join me in helping others to choose Jesus.
If you have not read my previous blogs, you can find them here. You can watch a book trailer about my book. You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here. eBook or Audiobook versions can be found at Westbow Press
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