Are you hard wired to be generous?  Does sharing what little you have come easy? Do you encourage your friends regularly? Are you the leader of your pack? Are you the first one to apologize? If you have answered yes to any of these questions then you are naturally a generous person. “if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” Romans 12:8 When ordinary folks bring humility, submissiveness, mercy  and the willingness to change …to a bargaining table ….that one sweet spirited, generous gesture can resolve spiritual issues, not just the natural ones. The occasional doubt may creep in, but when one confesses that hesitation,  God can turn our disappointments into blessings. If we ever feel like God is deaf to our cry, that He does not care, maybe a simple confession like “God I am sorry for mistrusting you, forgive me.” Maybe if we  look to our Creator, to the One who who consistently provides for all our needs and choose to count our blessings, perhaps our perspective may change along with our situation.   “To be wealthy, to be rich in good works and extravagant in our generosity towards others, this will provide a beautiful foundation for LIFE as He would have us live it.”  When we lean back on the truth that we are secured “in Him”  we begin trusting His understanding of our needs.  We can then FEAR NOT and allow ourselves to embrace the present and our future.  As we become more like Jesus, and less like a needy person, we then live the Truth, the Life, in the same Way that Jesus did. He lavishes us with daily Words of Knowledge as we sit and read the Bible. As we pause and take in how fully God provides for our every need, we notice His extravagance. Wow, look and see, taste and know, that God indeed pours out His love generously. Read 1 Tim 6 :18 -19  This soul restoring truth remains: Generosity is one of the main core values of a person living for God.

God came as a Creator in Genesis 1 and He said I’m gonna create all of this …..then create a man and a woman …..with the exact same level of creative power. The best of God’s nature is that He is generous in love, grace, mercy, forgiveness. He delivers us from evil and His desire is that we love ourselves as He loves us, and that we love others out the same. When we get stuck in a funky place of bitterness, unbelief, unforgiveness or doubt… Our God is faithful to restore us to His original plan for us, only if we submit, admit our errors, and trust His timing, and grace. Even though we fail over and over, the generous part of God’s nature is to give with no strings, no expectations attached. God gave to the thief on the cross, and to Judas the same measure of love, mercy and grace that He gave to Peter who denied Him three times. The repeated opulence of grace displayed in scripture indicates a Truth that God wants us to grasp. There is a place inside of us that God operates in. How marvelous it is to witness the open generosity of love, mercy, and finances towards others. Our willing generosity is the main landing strip onto which the Holy Spirit spreads and multiplies what we give. If we have not experienced the Holy Spirit in His extravagance, perhaps it is because we haven’t learned how or allowed ourselves to be truly generous. Usually when there’s a lack of generosity, there is a lack of identity in the very nature of Christ in us. We may go into self-protection, self-focus, self-absorption, narcissism because we are afraid to GIVE GOD our all even though cerebrally …we know He gave us His all. Each of us have been wired on every level to spiritually, neurologically, psychologically, biologically to be generous. As Believers we are blessed because we are destined for heaven… and heaven is a place without lack, sorrow and pain. We can find heaven’s bounty here on earth if we look for God’s daily  provision. In this life we already KNOW that we have a mansion in heaven, so why hesitate to give generously.  If a person cannot give out of an attitude of generosity, then they simply DO NOT believe that they have received God’s lavish gift of love on earth. Generosity starts with the attitude that says I am blessed therefore I can be a blessing. By using our God given talents for the benefit of others, without expecting a return, we represent Jesus, and we glorify God in our joyful giving.

A nearby Country Road

A cornfield along the lake

Our country Store overflows

The field across the street

Desire more of God and be content

To get more love, give more love

When we recognize that we have more than enough, we begin to generously unload our storehouses into those around us.  We might be storing up our time, our talents, or our money. To fulfill His planned purpose in our life, our Father uses us to be His givers. His bigger dream for you and me is that we give out of our abundance of a life lived “in Him” and for Him.  We are living out the dream of our Father’s desire that His Son’s generous sacrifice is enough. Those God places is our lives will recognize God’s generosity in us, as He attracts them to Himself by our generosity of grace, mercy and love towards others.  Let us ask that the Lord give us GENEROUSLY the mind of Christ accompanied by an unlimited faith in Jesus.  As we set our minds on Christ, we will be less likely to get all caught up in the divisions of politics or among churches. The Bible has multiple scriptures about how to handle foreigners, widows, orphans, neighbors. Let us do our best to implement what His Word says.

Living “in Him” as He is “in us” we can live resurrected from the dead of our ways, by surrendering our will to His. Asking God to download His way into our open heart, we then can embrace that “His will” is done through our generosity.  It is God who will finish the good work He started in us as we give Him our all, all the time.  Look up the word generous in your Bible and memorize a few verses. It takes a generous nature to understand the generosity of God and pay it forward. We all do stupid things as ‘falling short people’, but the good news is that our fallen nature does NOT unplug God’s original wiring in us. We were all originally wired by God to be generous. Think of a baby sharing a toy. It grows to a toddler then screams “mine”.  A mature spirit of generosity is born out of giving as prompted by the Holy Spirit. I pray that all people will be reunited to their original wiring. Let us be generous in praise, in helps, and in our giving. Lord, give us the opportunity to go on a new generous journey. Jesus I pray that You bless us with Your Spirit so we can see clearly what You want us to be generous in. Holy Spirit open a revelation to know what You’re doing and how to partner and participate. Make us a bright light to the world all around us, especially through generosity. Thank You Jesus for all the benefits it gives us. Thank You God on every level for how You have wired us with generosity. Help us Lord to be more deliberate in our thinking and giving. AMEN and AMEN – IF God has place a generous person in your life, honor them by sending a link to this post.