Generosity

God often speaks in themes in my life.

Lately, the theme that keeps coming up in my times with Jesus, my daily life, and in a variety of other ways is generosity.

The Bible is not silent on this matter. God has called us to be extravagantly generous.

Luke 6:37 (The Message)- "Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back--given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity."

All that we have--our life, our breath, our family, our home, our food, everything--is given by God. Yes, you work to earn money. Yet God is still the supplier of that.

So it is only natural (though it does not come naturally) for us to give away all that has been given to us.

My parents are extremely generous people, and my husband is an extremely generous man. The three of them would give their last dollar away. You would think it comes naturally to me, but it doesn't. God has done a lot of work in me to get me to where I am today, yet I still have a long way to go. Even still, I am intentionally looking for ways to be a generous person.

As you may know, Brett and I raise our own income (through friends and family) to be able to minister full time. This one thing that God has called us to has completely changed my life. Month after month, our faithful partners give to us, and I have been blown away by their incredible generosity. Literally depending on God for every dollar, I have learned the value of giving to others. There truly is no gift too small. We have been incredible blessed, and in turn, I am more willing to give away that which already belongs to God.

Generosity, however, is not just limited to money. That is actually just one small facet of generosity. We have the opportunity to be richly generous in every aspect of life. (I do believe it is important to be generous with your income. No matter how little or how much you make, you should be tithing to your church and giving to those in need.)

The best part about being generous is that you can never outgive God. Anytime you give, God always gives back in greater measure (Luke 6:38).

I have experienced this in my life over and over again. The more freely I give of my time, my money, my life....the more I get in return. It actually is possible for God to add hours to your day (how He does is, I don't know)....when you give your time away, you somehow get more done. It is a crazy, but true, paradox of God's Kingdom.

As I said, you can be generous in many different ways. If God is stirring in you to be more generous with your life, ask Him for creative ways to bless those around you. It may be a tremendous sacrifice, but I cannot say it enough that you'll be way more blessed in return.

Give freely, and you'll enjoy the fruit of honoring God!!

Some ideas to get you started:

- Make a meal for a new mom or an elderly neighbor

- Mow your neighbor's lawn

- Send a care package to a college student (especially during finals week)

- Listen (truly listen) to a friend who's going through a difficult season

- Support a child through Compassion

- Invite a family over for dinner

- Babysit for a couple with young children

- Respond kindly to a rude person

- Visit with seniors at a nursing home

- Volunteer at your church

- Smile

- Go through your closet and find items to donate to a friend who's out of work

- Take a single mom grocery shopping

- Actually pray for those you promise to pray for

- Forgive someone who doesn't deserve to be forgiven (because none of us deserve God's forgiveness, but He is richly generous)

- Overtip for quality service

Generosity is a wonderful trait to have. No matter how little or how much you have to give is not important....in God's hands, the smallest gift is significant. In the Bible, God turned a small lunch into a feast that fed over 5000 people.

In our self-seeking, self-indulgent society, living generously speaks volumes to those around you. Taking time out of your day to invest in someone else is always worth it.

Living generously is a beautiful way to live. Pay attention to those little nudges from God when He asks you to give to another person.

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

- Jim Elliot

Live generously today.