A Boundary to Generosity?
Proverbs 11:24,25 Some people give freely and gain more; others refuse to give and end up with less. Give freely, and you will profit. Help others, and you will gain more for yourself.
When it comes to your finances – a touchy subject I know, but hear me out – how much do you keep for yourself, and how much do you give away to help those in need? And as you look at the breakdown between those two, why is it like that?
We live in such a needy world – you and I – and yet, we can’t solve all the world’s problems. Even if we gave everything we have away, it wouldn’t even begin to make a dent on the need and suffering out there.
So in response to that, here’s what we tend to do. Having decided that we can’t make a difference, we give little or nothing away. We become stingy with our time, our energies, our goods and our money. In a wealthy country like my own, the average household spends significantly more on pet food each week than it does supporting the poor and needy.
Why do we do that? I guess it’s because we believe that this is a zero-sum game. The more I give away, the less I’ll have for myself. But that’s not how it works.
Proverbs 11:24-25 Some people give freely and gain more; others refuse to give and end up with less. Give freely, and you will profit. Help others, and you will gain more for yourself.
So, here it is. In God’s economy the more you give, the more you’ll have. Now that doesn’t mean that God will necessarily drop a BMW 7 Series in your driveway. No, He’s far more likely to find a way to make you rich that is so tailored, so custom-made for you, that it’ll blow you away.
So here’s the challenge: what are you holding back? How much more could you give away to bless others? Because remember – in God’s economy – the more you give, the richer you become.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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