Generosity
“There is one who scatters, yet increases more;
And there is one
who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. The
generous soul will be made rich,
And he who waters will also be watered himself.”
And he who waters will also be watered himself.”
Proverbs 11:24- 25
(NKJV)
Read those verses
again slowly.
The man who gives
freely, gains even more. The one that withholds unduly, well, he comes
to poverty. This proverb is not just talking about money; in reality it is
talking about how you live. If you are a generous man or woman and give freely
allowing your time, talents and resources (contacts, money, machinery, etc…) to
flow freely through you, you will gain a blessing. You will experience an
abundant life. One of joy, hope, expectation and excitement (passion): The joy
of what the Lord is doing will be your energy, your strength.
I think we’ve all
been there at one point in our walk. I can recall times when everything I
freely gave to people, largely in the form of my time and ability, was flooding
back to me in excitement, energy, great deals, spiritual blessings,
contentment, passion, and personal growth. However, many think of this proverb
as being related to money, but I heard a great illustration about money one
time. A man said that “money is simply like a brick.” I can build something
useful to the Lord, by yielding the bricks to Him or I can take them and use
them solely for myself. God is interested in you and your lifestyle, way more
than just the money you have; He wants all of us: our time, our focus, our
resources, and our very lives to be at His disposal. But here’s the catch, He
only wants us to do it willingly. God wants us to choose to freely flow in Him
by being generous.
Those who so do will
reap a blessing.
“A generous man will
prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”
Lord, may we understand generosity.
