There are times in my life when I am incredibly grateful for my life, my family, my friends, and my surroundings etc. Then there are also times when I forget how blessed I am, and it is at those times that I think I take things for granted. Gratitude does not always just flow out of my life. Sometimes it is a discipline. But here is the amazing thing, when I choose to be grateful, when I sit down and count my blessings, I find at least two things happen. I become more joyful, filled to overflowing. What is more, that overflow of joy is not mere exuberance. It leads to the second consequence of gratitude, which is generosity.
The Bible tells us to be generous. Deuteronomy 15:10 says that we are to,
“give generously … and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.” (NIV)
Then Proverbs 11:25 says,
“A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” (TNIV)
Jesus’ parables and teaching often praised the virtue of generosity and condemned those who hoarded or were selfish, see Luke 12:13-21.
Some of us feel guilty that we are not more generous. We think we should help the poor; we feel we should donate to a worthy cause; we should sponsor a child; we should give more at church. But ‘should’ will not take us very far, unless we are aiming at guilt.
Being more generous can help us to grow. If our aim is to become more like Christ, then we will desire to be more generous because Jesus was generous. He invites us to be generous, not to earn His favour, but because He knows it will transform our souls. There are many paths to generosity. Unfortunately, having more resources is not necessarily one of them. Many people think they cannot afford to be generous. If they just had a little extra money, they would be generous. But it is simply not true. Wealthy people are not necessarily more generous than those with lesser means.
But one of the surest paths to generosity is gratitude. If we want to grow in generosity, we need to start by being more grateful. When we believe that God has blessed us abundantly, we feel grateful. If we do not believe He has blessed us, we need to sit down and start listing the blessings in our life. As a spiritual discipline, we can change our thinking, which will change the way we feel, and we will feel grateful. Grateful people are generous because they believe that they can be so. God has given to them abundantly, so it is easy to share.
Do you want more of God, then believe that He is already given us Himself? Believe that He has provided more than enough for us to be generous. As Jesus said,
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38 NIV).
Diyanne Podhaczky
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