sity
Another idea is to recognise who, not what, I am giving to. Paul writes about the church in Macedonia giving themselves first of all to God, and then to others 2. When I give myself( not just my things) to God, I again take the focus away from me and can join in with what God’ s already doing. When I get close to God, I get close to His generous heart and can respond with His compassion. Now that ' s a whole different experience to giving that comes from a will powered and dutybound place.
I’ m not pretending that it is easy. When I was 16, I won an award that had a cash prize. I didn ' t have a part-time job so I really valued this money. I held on to it and was waiting for the right thing to buy. Soon after, the Boxing Day tsunami hit and I watched image after image of people who now had physically nothing. When I thought of my money in light of this disaster, there was no way that I could justify spending on myself. I still wanted to buy clothes, but I felt an obligation to give.
I AM BLOWN AWAY AGAIN AND AGAIN BY THE EXTRAVAGANT GENEROSITY OF GOD WHO WITHHELD NOTHING, NOT EVEN HIS SON.
Of course, my donation would have been put to good use regardless of my motivation, but how much better for me to have given out of thankfulness instead of looking at what I would miss?
My perspective makes a difference. When I set my eyes on the limitless time, energy and riches of heaven, rather than on the finite resources I have here, I am encouraged to be generous. We’ re called to store up heavenly riches 3 and we are not going to lose out! I ' ve found that when I focus on the eternal, the things I have now become less important, and the reasons I hold them tightly lose their power. I can open my hands and offer what I have. I can let the coin drop.
So how can I give with real generosity? By being thankful and humble. Recognising God as my provider and setting my sights on heaven.
Recently, before setting off for half a year away from home, I was on the receiving end of generosity that overwhelmed me. A friend of mine, an incredible woman, who was once a refugee, handed me an envelope.‘ It’ s not much, not much,’ she almost apologised and asked me not to open it immediately. Later, while sitting in my car, I opened the envelope to find ten folded notes inside. As tears welled in my eyes I thought,‘ who was I to receive such a generous gift?’
I was blown away by my friend ' s generosity and I am blown away again and again by the extravagant generosity of God who withheld nothing, not even His Son. Being his followers, let’ s come humbly with hearts that are thankful... and let the generous giving begin!
1. 1 Timothy 6:7 2. 2 Corinthians 8:5 3. Matthew 20:6 resonate · issue 28 · page 7