How to Live Generously
What’s your most prized possession? It might be the most valuable thing you own, like the house you’ve worked your whole life to afford. But it could also be a photo from a special time you spent with someone you loved. Or it could be a meaningful gift from a friend.
The value we assign to our “things” is tangled up with our emotions. How we choose to use the things we cherish most reveals our true priorities.
Jesus’ death on the cross is one of the greatest examples of God’s generosity. Despite knowing we could never repay Him, God didn’t hesitate to give up his greatest treasure—His only Son—for us. And through that sacrificial act, He demonstrated what generosity looks like: He gave something precious to Him for the sake of others. He gave because of love.
You don’t have to just give financially to practice generosity. Living generously simply acknowledges that God is able to do anything He wants through the gifts He has given you. Your giving may be financial, but it may also be something else, like giving your time to serve at your local church or hosting someone in your home. The possibilities are endless, but the results are consistent: When you honor Him with your giving, it draws you closer to Him and brings Him glory.
Generosity flows out of a thankful and trusting heart. The more you trust God with what you have, the more He starts to entrust you with.
Ultimately, giving will remind you that you are not in control, but you know the One who is in control—and He can provide for all your needs.
So what do you have to give? Try finding a place where you can invest what you have in some way. Start small, or go big. Just start.
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 the majority of it 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 ...