Generosity

We all love generosity—that is, when others are generous to us. Christians, of all people, should appreciate the value of generosity, being the recipients of the most extravagant and undeserved generosity from God himself. However, the challenge for many of us is becoming more like God in being consistently and lavishly generous to others.

In one of the many biblical passages that call us to be generous we can see why this is so difficult. Just before we are commanded to “be generous and ready to share” we are told that God has “richly provided us with everything to enjoy” (1Tim.6:17-18). And if I take what “I enjoy” and give it away, I won’t have it to enjoy anymore, whether it is a portion of my expendable income or some hours of my free time. These are resource we relish spending on ourselves, and parting with them is a genuine sacrifice. But the Bible goes to great lengths to reassure us that the “loss” we may sense in giving away these things is an act of faith that God always repays.

The very next verse of 1 Timothy 6 promises that these acts of generosity “store up treasure” to our account “for the future” (v.19; Phil.4:16-19). That is why, either in this life or the next, the one who “gives freely, grows all the richer,” but the one who “withholds what he should give, only suffers want” (Pr.11:24). So let us boldly trust that “whoever brings blessing will be enriched” and confidently believe that the “one who waters will himself be watered” (Pr.11:25).