“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).
There have absolutely been times in my life when I have struggled mightily with generosity. Oh, not being “more” generous, but simply opening my tightly closed fist and letting go of even a portion of the little that I had. I grew up very poor, and money, or the lack thereof, was a constant struggle and source of fear in my life.
But here’s the thing. God isn’t asking you to give on Bill Gates level. He’s asking you to just let go. He’s asking you to remember that everything you have is from Him. He’s asking you to give back to Him and trust Him to take care of you.
Remember the widow who gave just two small coins? Hardly a significant gift in the eyes of the observers, right? But Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on” (Luke 21:3-4).
I’m going to go out on a limb and speculate she still had something to eat, something to live on that day, because she gave all she had to the one who said, “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” (Luke 6:38).
I dare you to trust God! Choose a few verses listed below and memorize them so they will come to your mind when the time comes that God asks you to be generous to someone in need.
Proverbs 22:9 – The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.
Proverbs 28:27 – Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.
Matthew 6:25-27 – “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
Luke 6:38 – 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
Luke 12:33 – Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
Galatians 6:2 – Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Hebrews 13:16 – And do not forget to do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Go Deeper
R.L. Wilson
R.L. Wilson has been on staff at the Ankerberg Theological Research Institute since 1982. Wilson’s articles draw from the perspective of someone who grew up in a multicultural environment, and who has been a follower of Christ for many decades.
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