Generosity Pt 1

 ¹ And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. ² In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. ³ For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, ⁴ they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. ⁵ And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. ⁶ So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. ⁷ But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving

2 Corinthians 8:1-7

I read this passage on Friday and thought it would be a good idea to do a series of posts on generosity.  I'm going to go out on a limb and predict this won't get as much traffic as the "Godly Man" series did but I'm hoping I'm proved wrong.

Why generosity?

I think that it's funny how much Christians actually avoid talking about money (yes I realize generosity is more then money but for now that's what I'm going to focus on).  We could ask each other about any other thing in our lives but no one ever asks anyone else how they are doing with their generosity.  Think about that.  I can have a counseling session with someone and they can share with me about their addiction to porn, that they cheated on their wife, that they are doubting their faith in God, but never once in my entire ministry career has anyone ever sat down and said, "I'm struggling with my generosity." 

Jesus talks about money over 25% of the time because he realizes how we can become slaves to it.  Immediately we say, "Not me," but the fact is, if you aren't generous then that is exactly what you are.  A slave to your money.  When Paul writes this section about the Macedonians he is saying that there should be a direct link with being a follower of Christ and generosity.  We also see this in the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 and  several times in the book of Acts. 

So simply put, if you are a follower of Christ then you should be generous. 

This totally changed for me personally when I realized that I had gotten into a mindset that 10% was God's and the rest was mine. 

Wrong.

100% is God's and he is just letting me take care of it.  And the way that I take care of it is a direct representation of my faith in Christ.  Isn't the message of what Jesus did the most generous thing possible?  Then we should be overly generous as well because we are supposed to be representing that Gospel story here on earth. 

I'm not writing any of this to make anyone feel guilty, but I do hope that some people will be convicted and change. 

Part 2 will be on tithing, Part 3 will be on refocusing our thoughts, and Part 4 will be on the effects of generosity...I can feel the excitement :) Just to put everyone's mind at ease, I will not say that having nice things is wrong, that having money is wrong or that there is a one size fits all mentality to this topic.  I promise, this will be well rounded. 

My prayer this week as I write these will be that we will all check our hearts when it comes to this subject, approach it with humility, and that our hearts will be opened to what God is trying to say.

Peace,
Wags