Skip to main content

Generous to a Fault


Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. (Psalm 112:5)

          Today’s passage is the one provided by BibleGateway.com as their verse of the day. The topic provided by Gary Chapman in Love is a Way of Life is generosity. I’m going to take that as a confirmation that God wants me – and maybe you – to ponder generosity today.
          According to the dictionary, to be generous is to show a readiness to give more of something than is strictly necessary or expected. Technically speaking, Mr. Chauvin was generous in his abuse of Mr. Floyd. The Democrats are lavishly generous in their hatred for Mr. Trump. He reciprocates in kind, but since he’s one man, and the Democrats number nearly 46 million, his generosity is like a pebble on the beach of Democratic sand. Likewise, it’s amazing how generous we tend to be with other people’s money. I think it’s clear that this is not the sort of generosity we’re advised to practice.  
          Americans give about 1.4% of our GDP to charity. Keep in mind that the next most generous nations (New Zealand and Canada) give a little over half as much of their GDP. I’d like to see that number rise to ten percent for all three nations, but I admit, I’m not doing my part on that score. Part of the problem for a lot of us is lack of faith. Part of it (closely related) is fear. Another part is the lack of attention. We just don’t notice opportunities to give. A fourth part (closely related) is that we just don’t have the habit.
          A friend talked to me yesterday about goal setting and those of you who know me know I love to set goals. Reaching them? That’s another matter. I love to get organized; I just can’t seem to stay that way. But I have learned a couple things that may help with generosity. The first is that generosity doesn’t have to be about handing out money. I pick up other people’s trash. If my walk takes 30 minutes, that’s $7.50 (at the desired minimum wage of $15/hour) a day, usually at least five days a week. That’s $1950 per year in charity labor for the communities in which I live.
          The point is, we can be generous without giving away every penny we own. We need to be generous with our money, too, but the way to develop the habit of generosity may involve finding something else you can give. Do you have time you can give? A talent or skill you can use? Can you be generous in your praise? Your prayer? As you practice these easier forms of generosity, you;ll prepare yourself for the harder.
          Here’s another piece of the puzzle of generosity. I you love someone, you don’t mind giving to them.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more