Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Generosity

In my quiet time this morning, part of my reading was 2 Corinthians 9. Paul is writing to the church at Corinth and is encouraging them to follow through on their prior commitments to give. In the process, he tells us some incredible things about generosity:
  • If you only have a little, you can still give generously, even if it's not a lot (8:12)
  • Giving should be done voluntarily and cheerfully (v7)
  • God loves a cheerful giver (v7)
  • God blesses us so we can give generously to others in need, not simply for our own benefit (v11)
  • Being generous with our money opens the door for God to bless us in non-monetary ways (v8,10,12)
  • Our generosity will result in God's glory (v11,12,13)
  • Our giving should be our natural response to our experience of God's grace (v14)

When I read this, it's easy for me to think, "I need to be more generous! I'll get right on that." But that's not really the point. I think instead any lack of generosity on our part should lead us to examine our experience and understanding of God's grace given to us in Jesus Christ. While generosity can be a disciplined action, I think the ideal is that it's a natural byproduct of our relationship with God. He has lavished His grace upon us - given generously above and beyond anything we could deserve. Paul calls it His "indescribable gift!"

Have you experienced His grace and mercy in your own life? One simple evidence of that will be an outpouring of generosity to others.

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