Generosity is a virtue of the Kingdom of God. If being generous is a difficulty for us, we can ask God for a generous heart. We have a kind Father who wants to add to us the virtues of His Kingdom, such as generosity.
Sharing a testimony
I will start this text by sharing an experience I had last weekend. I was attending an online class and the teacher showed the case of a foundation that serves children and teenagers. It showed a particular action they took to encourage donations.
In class we watched the video of this action. And in this action, they asked the children who received help from the foundation, that is, children in need, to donate a toy to other needy children. They not only asked them to donate a toy, but asked them to donate their favorite toy.
When I saw the beginning of the video, I was sure the children would donate, but in the end they would get new toys as a reward for the gesture they made. But not! The video ended with the children donating and the call was “everyone can help”. I confess that I was trying to assimilate, you know? I couldn’t believe they took the favorite toy from these kids. Even more because they were children who depended on donations.
The teacher commented that later the foundation released testimonies from the children who donated. Then I went to search and found the video of a little girl. Whoever was behind the camera asked: how did you feel donating? And her child’s response was that she was happy because she knew that another child would be happy to win her toy.
Anyway, I learned a few things from this situation.
We can have a limited view on generosity
I could see in this situation how I can sometimes have a limited view on generosity. By donating, these children were able to experience something so precious. Something of an intangible value. Something much more valuable than a toy. Because being generous is a privilege!
We often end up thinking that those who have a better condition, have a greater responsibility regarding generosity because they will be less affected when donating something. But above all biblical generosity does not spring from the pocket. It does not concern someone’s financial condition or the amount that someone is able to donate.
Biblical generosity is about the heart. God accepts Abel’s offer and rejects Cain’s offer because of the heart’s intention. And one thing is a fact: everyone has a heart! So, everyone can do something generous. Everyone can experience the privilege and pleasure of being generous.
The privilege of Generosity
In the Bible there is a passage in which something very similar to the situation of children who donated happens.
“And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.”
2 Corinthians 8: 1-4 NVT
Paul in the context of this passage had asked the churches to send resources to Christians who were living in poverty in Jerusalem.
And then he praises the churches in Macedonia. The verse tells that these churches were being tested with many afflictions and experiencing extreme poverty. But even so, they insisted that they could participate in the privilege of generosity.
In conclusion …
Donating and being generous is a privilege. It is a privilege that we can all experience living because it does not concern the financial condition, but the heart. It’s not about having, it’s about being. It’s about having a generous heart.
So ask God for that heart!
Grace and peace!
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