Are you generous?
If you ask most people that question they would tell you, ‘Yes, of course’.
Most people would think of the times they had been nice to someone and given somebody something and count it in their generosity column.
But generosity can’t simply be defined by the action of giving. There is a part of it that can only be defined by your heart’s posture.
Giving by itself may not have a pure motive if the person giving said (money, time, effort) is doing it with the expectation of something in return.
In Greek the word for generosity, haplotés, is defined as singleness, simplicity, single threaded, and without folds. In other words there is no duplicity in generosity.
When Jesus gave His life for our sins it was quite easily the most generous gift ever given. There is nothing all of humanity, let alone one person could ever do to repay Jesus for His saving grace for our sins.
So what do we do?
I believe God wants us to be generous to everyone we meet in thought, deed, and everything in between, with a posture that expects nothing in return but puts no limit on what is given.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 puts it best:
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
Are you ready to be generous?
Frank Turner
Frank Turner is the founder of Break Bread, Break Chains and is the co-host of the following podcasts: Defund The Church, Relative Currency, Politically Entertaining, and Christ over Crypto. He is also the founder and creator of the op-ed site Fake News Syndicate.