Generous Toward God

A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

– Proverbs 22:9

Compared to most of the world's population, Americans are incredibly rich. When we're hungry for a snack, all we have to do is walk to the kitchen for some fresh fruit -- or more realistically -- a bag of chips or a tub of Rocky Road ice cream. And if we're running low on supplies, a quick trip to the supermarket or gourmet shop fills up the fridge in no time. We quite literally enjoy an embarrassment of riches.

Even Americans who receive government assistance are rich by the world's standards. But if you’re a Christ-follower (rich or poor), you’re called to give richly from your possessions and resources. That’s because God blesses you and me in a myriad of ways, day in and day out. He's also the ultimate giver, and he wants us to be that way, too.

Think about the many blessings he gives us every day. They vary, but tend to

include things like our health, job, home, family, friends and church. And what about God's ultimate gift: forgiveness of our sins and an eternal relationship with him through our faith in Jesus?

God also wants every Christ-follower to abandon greed. But to do that, we must trust him rather than our riches. After all, bank accounts and retirement funds can be wiped out overnight through unexpected circumstances and economic uncertainties. Just ask anyone with a 401k!

So what's the benefit to us? 

As the apostle Paul explains in 1 Timothy, giving back richly toward God and his purposes renders much more than just a warm feeling of self-satisfaction. Think of it as a guaranteed high-yield investment with dividends that you'll enjoy forever in the world to come. God challenges us to overturn our preconceived notions about money and possessions. Through his design, giving richly becomes getting more:

"By doing that, they will be saving a treasure for themselves as a strong foundation for the future," Paul says. "Then they will be able to have the life that is true life."

It's every Christ-follower's mission to serve as God's hands and feet on earth by feeding the hungry, healing the sick and housing the homeless. So by making generosity a spiritual habit and thus being generous toward God, we'll become more like him to help change our world for the better. Jesus sums up this principle through this reminder to us in Matthew 25:40:

"... 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"