A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. Proverbs 11:25 The blessings of generosity are mentioned several times in the book of Proverbs. Those who honor the Lord with their wealth will find their barns filled to overflowing (3:9-10), and the generous will be blessed (22:9), especially those who give to the poor (19:17). In essence, God is saying, “If you give to the poor (who can’t return the favor), it’s as if you gave it to Me personally, and I will see that you are repaid.” Generous giving is not difficult when we understand that everything we have comes from God. This is the basic truth that animates all Christian giving. All that we are and all that we have comes from God. Everything is a gift. Nothing is earned; everything is given. You own nothing. Everything you have is on loan from God. He gives it to you for a little while and says, “Take care of it.” We hold on tight because we think it all belongs to us. Sooner or later we’ll understand that it doesn’t belong to us-and it never did. What do you do when you’re running short on money but see a need and you want to get involved? I think the answer is clear. You give whatever you can and trust God to take care of you. It may not be a lot. Indeed, it may be very small. The amount doesn’t matter. What matters is the attitude of the heart. God specifically promises to take care of generous givers. And He promises to give back to you in accordance with the measure of generosity you use in your giving in the first place. Jesus specifically made that promise in Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” My friend Howard Harvey calls this the Shovel Principle: “I shovel it out and God shovels it in, and He’s got a bigger shovel than I do.” I like that because it perfectly catches the spirit of Jesus’ words. Generous givers are not the people with a large bank account, but the people with a large view of God. We often look at people who give generously and think, “They must be rich.” But it is not so. Poor people are often very generous, and rich people can be very stingy. Generosity has nothing to do with how much money you have. But it has everything to do with your view of God. If your God is big, you will be generous. If He is small, you will be stingy. If you struggle with your giving, it may be because your God is too small. The bigger your God, the easier it will be for you to give. Someone has said that since we can’t take it with us, the best thing we can do with our money is to give it away. I have a feeling that Solomon (who was an extremely rich man) would agree with that thought. God takes care of generous givers. You may not get rich by giving your money away, but you’ll never know as long as you keep it all for yourself.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 03:14:09 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015