Generosity

Over the last week, I have looked at a few Christian traits that seem to come to the forefront during the Christmas celebration. I have taken a look at the fight for joy, struggle for love, and the contention for peace. As those who love Jesus these are attributes that we must exhibit not only during the Christmas time but we must have them all year round. Today I want to take a few minutes to look at the battle for generosity. I would like to begin by highlighting 2 verse from the Bible about being generous.

1 Timothy 6:18
"Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

 Psalms 37:26
"They [righteous] are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed"

First, being generous is a command in the Bible, something that those who are righteous and godly will exhibit in their lives. That is an important truth to remember. Being generous and giving to others, not just during Christmas but all year long, is something that those who love Jesus can and should do.

But where does the generous spirit in our lives come from. This is the most important point from this post. We are to be generous because God, in Jesus, was generous to us first. Jesus loved us so much He gave us everything when we were His enemies. Jesus came as the baby, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross, generously first for us so that we might have life. The generosity in our life must come from that fact. We are to be generous because God was generous and still is everyday for us. That is where the generosity must start.

Next, generosity must flow from us. Being generous is not something we do or an act we preform but it is something we are. Being a generous person is a state of being. Giving our treasure (money, possessions, stuff, even family), talents, and time are the ways and areas that we must pour out into others and more importantly pour into God's service. Being generous is a life that is continually building up the kingdom of God, by building up the person's life. Being generous is selfless and others focused with everything we are. Being generous is about being more and more like Jesus and being less and less like the world and the selfish culture of it. The culture will even tell you to do things for others because it can make us look good. That is the least generous idea out there.

Lastly I want to say that being generous is not easy, it is a battle and struggle. Being generous and pouring our all into others, even to the point of feeling it, takes hard work. Being generous is a fight against the sin nature and flesh. Too many times we wake up in the morning thinking about how much money we will make or the treasures we will gather in the day. Instead we should be waking in the morning thinking about how much more we can give away of what we have and who we are. This is a daily battle for our soul and our testimony.  Remember that the world will see Jesus and His generosity through our generous spirit. It is a battle that we must win to the glory of God.

So during this time of celebration of Jesus most generous gift, his birth and death, battle each day to be more generous in spirit and make it a battle that can be won all year round.