"I want to give her the biggest diamond I can afford. I don't really care if I have to work a hundred hours overtime to buy it. I love her like crazy and I want to give her the best engagement ring I can possibly buy." It's called love.
"I want to give My very own Son—even though it means He will be rudely treated and brutally assaulted and ultimately die a shameful and painful death on a cross. I love sinners so much I want to give My one and only Son for them." It's called love.
"Paul, please, please let us give to the Christians in Jerusalem. Even though we are poverty-stricken ourselves, we really do want to give what we have, even if it means depriving ourselves of some necessities. Nothing would make us happier than to send a gift to them." It's called love. (Macedonian believers, 2 Corinthians 8)
How motivated are you to give? When have you last shown generosity to someone? And were you thrilled to do it—or was it more like an obligation? Scripture makes a crucial distinction:
“…not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7
God is not honoured by pressured giving. He loves a cheerful giver—because cheerfulness reveals love.
Are you generous rarely or mostly? Do your eyes scan the horizon, looking for opportunities to give—and then give some more?
You say you love the Lord—but does your giving agree with your claim? If someone examined your bank statements, would they see evidence of love—or caution?
“I’m not rich,” you say. “When I am blessed with a good job, finish paying off my student loan, and have my car loan and house mortgage paid down, then I will be in a position to be generous.”
Generosity is an attitude—an inner desire to happily give to others the possessions that people naturally keep for themselves. Generosity is the water from the well of gratitude and love.
When the well is dry, guess what happens?
The well is not the wallet. The problem is not the wallet. The problem is the well.
If generosity is weak, the problem is not your income—it is your affection.
Refresh your memory on our Lord’s teaching regarding the widow’s mite in Mark 12:44. God measures our giving not by its size—but by its sacrifice. What is very significant to the Lord is not how much we give, but how much we keep for ourselves.
“Give, and it will be given to you… For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35
Generous and giving believers are not that way because of the size of their wallet or the balance in their savings account. They are that way because of the gratitude and love that flourish in their heart.
“…the righteous one is gracious and giving… He is always generous, always lending, and his children are a blessing.” Psalm 37:21,26
So often we hear there are many ways to give—and so there are. Giving is not just expressed in dollars. But the reality is, sometimes we can use that as a cop-out, too. There’s something about money that misers love. In fact, they will donate their time and their talents and be quite generous with that—but when it comes to parting with their money, it stays safely tucked away. That’s because they place a higher value on their money than on their own time or abilities.
It is possible to be generous in a few chosen areas—and still not be a generous person. True generosity is not calculated or occasional. It is characteristic. It looks for opportunities, seizes them, and often blesses the unsuspecting with quiet, unannounced kindness —whether it’s within the Christian community or the community at large.
“If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart… how does God’s love abide in him?” 1 John 3:17
When Paul was teaching the Corinthian believers about giving, he not only used the believers up the road (Macedonia) as an example—he turned to the supreme example. His words to them were:
But as you excel in everything—
in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—
see that you excel in this act of grace (giving) also.
I say this not as a command,
but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though He was rich,
yet for your sake He became poor,
so that you by His poverty might become rich.
2 Corinthians 8:7–9
How much water is flowing from my inner well? Is it gushing out liberally—or is it down to a trickle — like say — the ritualistic ten percent? How much do I love and honour the Lord? How much do I appreciate my salvation? How deep is my gratitude?
Honour the LORD with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest; then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine. Proverbs 3:9–10
A generous person will be enriched, and the one who gives a drink of water will receive water. Proverbs 11:25
Spend some time today thinking about the willingness of Christ to become poor in order for us to be made rich! The more time I spend thinking of Him, the greater the surge of gratitude will be—and the deeper and fuller my well will be.
A spiritual Christian is a generous Christian. You can be a generous Christian and yet not be growing spiritually. But you cannot be a spiritually maturing Christian without generosity overflowing from the well of your prospering heart.
Where love for Christ runs deep, generosity will always follow. And where it doesn’t—no excuse can hide it.
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