- Generosity is an investment in eternity
The Bible tells us in Matthew 6:20:
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven (NIV)
You cannot take money with you when you die, but you can send it on ahead. When you give generously to someone, then you are giving to an eternal being who will live for ever. God wants you to invest in his people, in his work, in his church. When you give generously to these things, then your time, your money, your talents are never wasted. Indeed, you will receive a rich reward in heaven.
- Generosity will make you happy
As in all things, we need to be growing in our giving. We haven’t really begun to give until we feel good about it. Rather than just giving because we feel we ought to, or the church teaches us to give; wouldn’t it be good if we would give, because we want to, to give out of opportunity and not merely out of obligation. Proverbs 11:25 says:
a generous person will prosper (NIV)
It does not say a prosperous man will be generous. Being generous will transform your life, and you will begin to enjoy being able to give to others, it will make you feel good. In short, generosity will make you happy.
- Generosity blesses us in return
Proverbs 22:9 says:
Generous people will be blessed (NCV)
We don’t give in order to expect something back, nor do we give to be recognised, or to write off some tax. Generosity is it’s own reward. So many today are preoccupied with “self,” but we need to get our eyes off ourselves, and instead focus on God and others.
God wants to bless you, he wants to give you an abundant life now as well as for eternity. He wants to increase what you have, to prosper you. Generosity will open the door to a blessed life, because God is a generous God and when you give generously, you will bring pleasure to the Lord.
May we ask God to help us to change, to become more generous. All of us need a change of heart if we are to be generous like Christ. As the saying goes:
The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart
God bless you,
Douglas