Generosity

 

Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything.

PROVERBS 11:24 (NLT)

This verse doesn’t seem to make sense at first. If we’re generous, surely, we become less wealthy. If we keep a hold of our wealth, surely, we gain interest at the very least.

The Bible is a spiritual book, not a get rich quick manual. When we’re generous, our hearts are moved by God to think of others, and we gain treasures in heaven. When we’re stingy, we’re being ungodly and face His condemnation.

Generosity won’t earn us heaven, but if God grants heaven to us, it follows that we will become more generous. If we’re conscious of God’s generosity to us, it follows that we should want to be generous in response. If we claim to belong to Jesus but are stingy, we betray the fact we aren’t really His.

If we let go of what we have, we will gain so much more in eternity. If we cling to what we have, we will lose it all forever. Our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who gave everything for us.

‘Gracious God, please help us to be generous, just as You have given of Yourself for us. Please forgive our miserliness, in Christ’s name, amen’