The Wealth of Generosity
And God is able to make all grace [every favor and earthly blessing] come in abundance to you, so that you may always [under all circumstances, regardless of the need] have complete sufficiency in everything [being completely self-sufficient in Him], and have an abundance for every good work and act of charity. – 2 Corinthians 9:8
I love the words of the Bible when it comes to giving, they are expressed with the biggest adverbs and adjectives: exceeding, complete, everything, all, abundant, always, etc. Every single word is huge and unreasonable, words that we cannot process with our mind but words designed to create Christlikeness in us.
This promise in 2 Corinthians is written in the context of the Macedonians being severely afflicted with poverty, yet joy was their response because they hold onto the grace they had received. That same grace that comes in abundance is available for us too, so it can also produce joy in us.
The simple truth we see revealed in the Word is that God is generous. Perhaps generosity is not one of the big attributes of God that we study often, but it is the overflow of his love and goodness towards us: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” - John 3:16
Not only do we know that God is generous, but we can count on him to continue being this way, He is faithful to the end. He is not like a human that might be generous one day and change his mind the next. He is a faithful God who is able to:
Make His grace abound
Provide us with sufficiency at all times
Give us abundance for every good work
To give unto every good work? It sounds impossible to do every good work there is in life, but we are challenged in the Word to do the ones God has prepared for us: “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” - Eph. 2:10
To top it off, through the renewing of our mind (Rom. 12:2) we will be able to discern His good and perfect will for us, so we can do everything He has called us to do; it is possible!
God’s power and grace will enable us to receive more than we need, not to store up the excess, but to give to each work He has intended for us. There is more than enough for us so there can be abundance for others. It’s time to put God’s promises back in our finances!
Just like God’s generosity comes from a place of love and goodness, the kind of generous person He loves is the one whose motivation is joy! “God loves a cheerful giver.” - 2 Cor. 9:7
God pushes us to change the condition in our hearts, to exchange hoarding for open hands, to savor the joy of giving, and to tap into the divine power of showing love the way He does.
Generosity comes ultimately from knowing: “God is everything to me.” (Self-sufficient in Him). When we become this free, giving is an overflow of joy to meet the needs of others, that is, every good work. Generosity is gratitude for the grace of God that never runs down.
In the end, we all know it is more blessed to give than to receive! To understand this is to know the wealth of generosity: a life richer and fuller.