Being and Becoming: Generosity

Written by Jerry Tucker

There’s no way around it…we live in a world where there is much focus on what we can accumulate, how much money we can make, how comfortably we can live, how much we can provide for our families, and what kind of legacy we can leave behind.  With this kind of focus on “getting” it sometimes takes a nudge to remember that we are called to “give.”

I can humbly confess with certainty that I have personally experienced God’s promise with regard to giving.  And, that has come at some of my lowest times when giving seemed impossible.  And, it has come at times of abundance when it really wasn’t that hard to do. But, the result was the same. God’s promises are true.  Many years ago, a Christian friend said to me, “You can’t outgive God.”  True words!

The scripture is very clear in our call to be generous.  And, we are called to be generous without making a big deal about it.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 6: 3-4, “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.  And, your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Tithing/giving/generosity is a practice that God calls us to do as a very intimate practice between us and Him!  One of the more familiar verses regarding giving is Malachi 3:10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”  I love it that God challenges us to test Him!  And, I love the word “floodgates.”  God does indeed promise to lavish us with his goodness when we are obedient to his call to give!  But, again, He calls for this to be a very private and intimate thing with Him…not as something to be seen by others.

I’ve always seen the Malachi scripture as being a reference to the tithe…the giving that we do to support the work of the Kingdom.  However, throughout scripture, God reminds us over and over that generosity in many other respects has the same kind of rewards.  Proverbs 19:17 says “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.”  Again, this is very personal and intimate thing with God. Proverbs 22:9 “The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.”  The promise continues that generosity will be seen and rewarded.

A promise directly from Jesus in Luke 6:38 is “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  And, then, later in Timothy 6:18-19 Paul says, “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”

So, the commands and encouragement for generosity are throughout scripture.  Over and over in the Psalms, in Proverbs, in the Gospels, and in the Epistles, we are called to generosity.  The message is also consistent that generosity is rewarded.  Should we do it to be rewarded?  Probably not!  But, God certainly does emphasize the reward associated with giving.  Is this “prosperity gospel?”  Certainly not!  It is simply obedience with the comfort in knowing that God is going to provide our needs.  It is seeking first the Kingdom…and trusting God for our provision.

The promises are there!  But, be aware that the flip side is also expressed in scripture. Proverbs 21:13 says “Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.”  

We cannot ignore the call to be generous and expect our needs always to be met. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Amen!