Are you a Generous Giver?

Today, my pastor taught on excelling in the grace of giving. I’ve written about giving many times before, but Pastor provided me some new perspective based on some scriptures, I’d never really considered before. In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul issues a call to generous giving. What does being generous mean?  Being generous means showing a readiness to give more of something, as money or time, than is strictly necessary or expected. 

Generosity is a choice to think of someone or something other than yourself – releasing something you have for the betterment of someone else or something bigger than yourself. We are called to be generous givers because God does not give to us only for ourselves. He gives to us to get things through us. Also, for everything we give, God gives back to us as long as we are cheerful givers. 

We cannot give more than He can. However, if our hands are closed around what we have He can’t get things to us. If we give freely, more will come to us (Prov 11:24). According to Proverbs, the generous will prosper (Prov 11:25). If you help others, you will get help. 

So, what happens if I don’t have to give? Like I mentioned earlier, generous giving is a choice. We find the money or time to do what we want to do for ourselves. So, generous giving may require some discipline. How many of us waste? I know that I do. I mean, I give, but I waste. So if I were more disciplined, I could give more….money and time. It’s a matter to making the decision to be generous. If we focus on that, opportunities will afford themselves. 

Like so many things, generous giving requires practice. The more you do it, the easier it gets. No matter what we have been blessed with, we are called to share it with others. Then, when we’re in need, others will share with us. The more cheerfully generous you are, God will generously provide all you need (2 Corin 9:8). If you want God to richly bless you, start blessing others and point them to Christ. But remember, we don’t give to get. We give because God called us to and because He is so good to us. Knowing that God has called us to give, what are you going to do?