Generosity
One of the spiritual disciplines of Jesus is generosity. You could say Jesus’ whole life was generosity. His generosity flowed out of the Father’s generosity to us.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).
I did not learn generosity growing up. I was basically an only child. My older sister got married when I was 5 years old. My little sister was born when I was 12.
I did not have to share with siblings during my childhood. I wasn’t a spoiled brat, but when I became a Christian at 17 years old, I did not realize that generosity was something to be practiced as a disciple of Jesus.
It took a while to take hold. I did give ten percent of my income to God’s work and would occasionally give beyond that. I cannot tell you exactly when God began to impress on my the need to practice generosity.
It has grown over the years, but I did have times when I got out of practice or ignored the practice. Just recently God has challenged me to be more generous. I can emphatically state that this proverb is true.
Every time I practice generosity, God brings blessing. Just the mere joy in giving is enough! I have witnessed generosity in our own Christian community.
It blesses me as a pastor to witness others being generous. We are coming up to the time of year when we can show our generosity.
Our Offer-fest is one of those occasions. Before Thanksgiving, we provide all an opportunity to go beyond our regular giving to meet specific needs.
Our leadership team has discerned two specific needs that we can give to. One way is to help in our Operation Christmas Child. The other is to help pay for our insurance.
Insurance has jumped dramatically and we need help in covering the cost. I know it is not glamourous to give for insurance, but it is a pressing need! I hope you will pray about your own generosity in this area.
Together, we can enter into deeper blessings as we give to the mission and special needs that are before us.
Pastor Fred