GENEROUS GIVING

God’s goodness expresses itself in His generosity. God is good, and God is a giver. In fact, He is the Supreme Giver. God spoke the universe into existence. God breathed into you the breath of life. God formed you in your mother’s womb. When you were lost, God gave you Jesus to show you the way home. And God prepares all eternity for you. God is a giver. You are made in His image. So the best-version-of-yourself will be a generous giver, too…

The most joyful people also happen to be the most generous. Generous giving is joy. To give is to become more like God.

God delights in your giving and even multiplies it to bless others. “God loves a cheerful giver. Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things… you may have an abundance for every good work.”  (2 Corinthians 9:7b-8) 

-- Allen R. Hunt in “Nine Words: A Bible Study to Help You Become the Best-Version-of-Yourself”

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POSSESSIONS AND FAITH

It is a long-known principle that when wealth is tightly held, it waters down faith. In the Middle Ages some monks put it this way: “Discipline begets abundance; abundance, unless we use the utmost care, destroys discipline.” Evangelist John Wesley put it his way: “I fear, wherever riches have increased, the essence of religion has decreased in the same proportion!” Religion, he believed, must necessarily produce industry and frugality, and these produce riches. But as riches increase, so does pride, anger, and love of the world. American Puritans like Cotton Mather put it this way in speaking of his beloved New England and its spiritual decline: “Religion begat prosperity and the daughter devoured the mother.” Perhaps this is why Jesus said, “Take care, and be on your guard,” when it comes to your possessions (Luke 12:15 ESV).

If you can’t take it with you when you go, then now is the time to learn to be generous. Be generous because it is the nature of God to be generous. 

-- Donald W. Sweeting & George Sweeting in “How to Finish the Christian Life: Following Jesus in the Second Half”

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EXTRAVAGANT GENEROSITY

“We love because God first loved us.”  (1 John 4:19 GNT)

Generosity begins not with what I give to God, but with what God has already given to me. The Bible says that extravagant, self-giving generosity is the tangible expression of the love that is in the very heart of God. We are generous to others because God has been so extravagantly generous to us.

Generosity is not optional for followers of Jesus Christ. It is the spiritual discipline that shapes our lives around the extravagant generosity of God. Our use of money undergoes a fundamental transformation when we stop asking how much of our wealth we will give to God and start asking how much of God’s wealth we will keep for ourselves. Generosity is the antidote to greed, which is one of the seven deadly sins. Greed is sinful because it is an inherent contradiction of the essential character of God. It is deadly because it results in spiritual arteriosclerosis that blocks the flow of God’s life into our lives and into the world. 

-- James A. Harnish in “A Disciple’s Path: Deepening Your Relationship with Christ and the Church”

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GIVING IN RESPONSE TO GOD

“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”  (Ephesians 5:1-2 NIV)

Our God is a giving God. He is a God of abundance, and He loves to give. In Christ He sacrificed willingly on the cross and then invited us into fullness of life. As His children, we are called to imitate Him. Our generosity in giving is a demonstration of God’s character and a response to what He has done for us.

As we become more and more who God has called us to be – more like Him – through the process of sanctification, we reflect God more and more. We become more loving, more gracious, and, yes, more giving. Because God is generous, we are also called to be generous. Generosity not only points others to God, it is an appropriate response to what God has done for us. 

-- from an article entitled "Why is giving so emphasized in the Christian faith?" on the gotquestions.org website


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