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: willingly offering up what we have so that someone else can thrive, even if it causes us pain in the process.
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. When you let God give through you, and you honor Him with your giving, it draws you closer to Him. Generosity flows out of a thankful and trusting heart, and when you trust God with what you have, He starts to entrust you with more.
Practicing this habit 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.
Luke 15
“Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours ...