What Does It Mean to Be Generous?
The word “generous” is often defined as:
Generous living is not a concept limited to the wealthy, the gifted, or the lucky. Generosity is a lifestyle that stems from a desire to worship God in every area of life.
The principle of generosity is laced all throughout Scripture, and we have the best model and mentor when it comes to seeing it in action—God. He sent His Son, Jesus, as a sacrifice for our mistakes so that way we could spend eternity with Him. That is generosity in action.
Psalm 24:1 says that “the earth is the LORD’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it…” Everything we have belongs to God and is given to us by Him. He is the owner, and we are His managers. And the people who manage well are often entrusted with more to manage.
It doesn’t matter how much we have—it matters what we do with what we’re given.
We will live generously when we view everything we have as a gift from God. And when we do that, our mindsets switch from “This is mine?” to “How can I share?”
So right now, think about how you view the things God has given you. Do you see them as gifts from God to be shared, or as accomplishments and possessions you’ve earned? What is one thing you can start doing today to become more generous?
Are You Ready?
The greatest measure of who we are and what we love is how we spend our time.
Where do you spend most of your time? Most of us spend our days with family, at work, or on hobbies. All of those are important things that we should invest in, but Jesus says there’s another thing that we need to spend time doing.
There are a lot of different ideas people have for when Jesus will return but, ultimately, Jesus says that nobody will know the time and date. He will come at a time when we least expect Him.
So until He does come, He says that we should be ready. We tend to spend most of our time working on finding the right career, or pursuing certain relationships, or building wealth and possessions. And yet, none of those things will prepare us for when Jesus returns.
So what can we do to prepare?
The first thing is to put your faith in Jesus, by believing that He gave His life so that you could have eternal life. Next, commit to spending time with Him, confessing your mistakes and ...