Generosity

3-31-2009
I had a speaking engagement today at Southern Methodist University, and little did I know there wasn’t any free parking. When I say there wasn’t any free parking, I mean that literally, you had to pay money to park! The worst part is I wasn’t early if you catch my drift, SMU has a huge campus, and I didn’t have any loose change. There were parking meters everywhere, and all I had was bills. I had no choice, I had to park the car and hope someone would be generous enough to give me some money to put into the meter. Picture this, I am standing on the sidewalk begging people for ANY change, and EVERY person happily reached into their pocket and gave me all they had! I was shocked, so shocked that I chose to write this devotional about generosity.
True generosity is giving to people expecting nothing in return. We live in such a give and take world, that very few people truly serve, love, and give unconditionally. Everyone wants to know what they can get for their generosity, which totally defeats the purpose of giving. Those students at SMU didn’t know me, and had nothing to gain for giving me their loose change, yet every one of them not only gave me their money, but they did so with a smile. I even offered to give them $5 for whatever change they had as I didn’t have any $1 bills. They gave without expectation.
I’ve always felt that everything is relative. For instance, if I were to ask you if a quarter was a lot of money, your first response would probably be “no”. Now, if I told you that quarter was the difference between me getting my car towed versus not having my car towed, wouldn’t you agree with me that a quarter is a lot of money? What if I told you the person that gave me the quarter gave me everything they had, and thus no longer had any money to buy a snack out of the vending machine? This is the type of giving Christ not only commands out of us, but did himself. Christ doesn’t call us to give what we can’t give, he calls us to give what we can. For one family, giving $20 a week could be a huge sacrifice. For others, $20 a week is an afterthought. The kingdom of God spreads through the willingness of believers to give to others.
There are four keys that Paul discussed in the church in Corinth, in 2 Corinthians 8:1-15. First, give cheerfully. How you give is more important than how much you give. Second, understand we are called to tithe which means give 10% to the church. Third, giving certainly lends itself to others willingness to help you in times of need, but don’t give expecting. Last, how you give should reflect your understanding and love of Christ, and that the grace he GAVE us is the ultimate gift.
Application:
1. Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
2. Think of those that are in need and take action today to help them.