A Generous Heart

How tightly do you cling to material possessions? Do you struggle to give because you fear that you will lack? Do you struggle to give because you believe what you possess is yours to keep? Have you burdened your family with debt through frivolous spending and unwise investments to the point where giving to others isn’t possible?  If so, you may be struggling with a selfish spirit, and I want to help break that.

The early Church was known for many things. They were known for their staunch devotion to the resurrection of Christ; they were known for their sacrificial witness in the face of martyrdom; they were known for intimate fellowship that transcended cultural lines; most striking, however, was their generosity. In the face of the sexualized culture that it was birthed out of, Christianity became known as a religion of the generous. The thing that was so scandalous though was what these people were generous with. For first century Greco-Roman citizens, liberality and generosity with the body, sexually speaking, was applauded, while stinginess and miserliness was the status quo when it came to material possessions. What the early Church did, through the renewing power of the Gospel, was flip this formula on its head. When the culture around them was sexually generous and materially frugal, the Church was sexually frugal (monogamy was not popular) and materially generous. When culture screamed for sexual freedom and monetary selfishness, the Gospel responded with fidelity and generosity.

For Paul, this type of generosity was a clear sign of a good and godly man. No true man of God could look at the works of his hands, the strength of his back, or even his time as something that he owned; they were now Christ’s. “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). This verse rang emphatically in the ears of those first Christians, and it should do the same for us. How can you abandon selfishness and embrace generosity? Where in your life can you make cuts in your creature comforts for the sake of giving more to others? After all, everything you are and have are His. “Will man rob God?” (Malachi 3:8).