True Generosity
We’ve all heard about extravagant acts of generosity. Some are quite incredible, which makes me wonder whether these people are uniquely gifted or just plain crazy? Come on, I know I’m not the only one who’s thought this! So, what does real generosity look like? How much do I have to give, and how will I know when I’m really generous?
A modern-day example of generosity
I recently reread The Blessed Life by Robert Morris, Pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas. It’s one of my favorite books on giving because it provides a Biblical pattern for giving. In the book, Pastor Morris talks about the first time God asked him to give everything he had away. He’s done this several times throughout his life. God told him to give away his cars, all the money in his accounts, even his house, which he did. Most of us would consider that extremely generous, wouldn’t you?
A Biblical example of extravagant generosity
An example of the most extravagant monetary gift given in Scripture is told in 1 Chronicles 29. Knowing he would not be the one to build the Temple, King David took it upon himself to provide as much help to Solomon, his son, to build it.
“Now for the house of my God, I have prepared with all my might: gold for things to be made of gold, silver for the things of silver, bronze for the things of bronze, iron for the things of iron, wood for the things of wood, onyx stones, stones to be set, glistening stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and marble slabs in abundance.”
(1 Chronicles 29:2)
David set aside enormous amounts of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and precious stones. Of his own treasure, he gave three thousand talents of gold and seven thousand talents of silver. The value of his personal gift alone would be worth billions today. On top of that, he inspired the leaders of Israel to give even more than he did. That certainly looks like extravagant generosity to me. Wouldn’t you agree?
A definition of generosity
A basic definition of being generous is to give away more than is expected. What’s implied is that a generous person gives out of what they possess. It wouldn’t be generous if they gave away someone else’s money or possessions, would it? That is, unless the money and possessions were entrusted to them for the specific purpose of being generous.
David’s extravagant generosity seems remarkable to us, but David didn’t see it that way. He understood generosity at a level that most of us miss:
“But who am I and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given you.” … ”O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name is from Your hand, and is all Your own.” (1 Chronicles 29:14,16)
To be truly generous requires more than giving away something that was given to you. David understood this. Everything we have in our possession has been given to us by God. Even our ability to earn and produce, not to mention the materials we need, has been given to us. Whatever material gift you give, no matter how much it is worth, cannot be counted as generosity because to be truly generous requires you to give something that’s your own.
True Generosity
So what do we possess that’s truly our own?
Out of all of God’s creation, people are the only species that have free will. God gave us the ability to chose, to live not on instinct alone, but by choice. This was a risk God was willing to take because there can be no love and no generosity without choice. The one thing we humans possess is our heart. The heart is the ruling center of a person. You can choose to give it to whoever you want. With your heart, you can love God, or you can reject Him.
David was generous, not because of the things he gave. He was generous because he gave himself [his heart] unconditionally to God. This is beautifully shown in verse 17 of 1 Chronicles 29. David says, “I know also, my God, that You test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the integrity of my heart I have willingly offered all these things; and now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here to offer willingly to you.”
Your turn
David didn’t care about the loss of his treasure because his treasure was not earthly. His true treasure was God himself, and he willingly committed himself to Him not withholding the things in his possession from God. How about you? Do you want to be generous? It starts by fully committing your heart to God. He is your most precious treasure. If your heart belongs to God, any gift is a generous and extravagant gift to God regardless of its earthly value.
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