Generosity and Godliness

Love and generosity go hand in hand.  One cannot be loving and simultaneously not generous.  In fact, the highest definition of love coincides with the most generous human act, namely that one would give of one's self for their friends (John 15:13).  The point is that love is generous and because Christians are to be ultimately loving, we need to become a people of generosity.

This can be a difficult concept to grasp because of the challenges inherent to generosity, chief among them being the self.  Generosity, by way of definition, is a quality of kindness that strikes at the manner and intent of the heart in its output of love.  In its essential form, generosity refers to a willingness to give at the expense of self.  Very quickly, then, the gravity of generosity in the life of a believer becomes clear and sobering.

Because Christ Jesus has given us everything, we have no right to hoard and to clutch to that which we would like to claim as our own.  Truly, the only part of ourselves that we can claim is our faith which, as should seem clear, is merely the conduit by which God's grace may enter our lives.  When we give ourselves to the Lord, we give the ownership of self over to God and become His, slaves to His will and righteousness (Rom. 6:20-22).

Therefore, because all we are is not in actuality ours but belongs to the One who has given it to us, we should be generous as a response to the grace that has been shown us.  This can be a challenging proposition because we so like to clammer and cling to our fleshly identities and worldly possessions.  However, God asks us to invest every resource to give every part of ourselves so as to collect a heavenly treasure that is eternal (Matt. 6:19-20).

Generosity can be hard until we realize what it means.  When we are generous, meaning that we give of ourselves be it time or resource, we are engaging in relationship with the Lord as His love, His very character is passing through us in love to whomever we are being generous towards.  In a sense, we become His hands and feet, the physical agents of His supreme generosity.  It we want, then, to feel more of God's presence in our lives, we only need, by faith and discernment, improve our generosity. Thus we will grow in Him as we begin to love more like Him.  Let us then pray for the opportunities to be generous so as to love Him as He has loved us!