Regular Joe's

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.  Matthew 10:8

Why is it that being generous is something a lot of people like to do but far too many people forget to be?  When I am generous, there is something that I feel inside my heart that blows me away.  It is almost as it the power of God is flowing directly through me. When I act generously I have a lift in my step, song in my heart, joy in my spirit and I am generally pretty happy.  Being generous is a shortcut to overcoming sadness, depression, anger and a host of other emotions.  Generosity improves health, improves friendships, improves self worth…  I honestly cannot find anything wrong with being generous.

Unless you are the skeptic who gives the “Yeah But” to everything, you probably get that being generous is a better way to live as well.  So what’s the hang-up?  Why are so few people genuinely generous?  What makes us miss being generous when we KNOW we should?  Why is it that when the day is done, most people I know, me included, cannot make a laundry list of places they were generous?  Is there anything we can discover about generosity that would move us toward a lifestyle of being generous?   The verse above gives us a clue.

Look how Jesus starts this verse.  Heal, raise, cleanse, drive… all action words.  All words that indicate intentionality.  All words that when fleshed out point to an awareness of others.  Here is an observation about generosity.  Generosity is not a feeling you have it is something you do.  I might feel generous but unless I act generous, it leaves no mark on others.

Being generous is what happens when I start seeing the needs of others through the eyes of God. Most of the time when I see the needs of others I see them through my eyes.  Immediately I size up if I can help… if I want to help… if I should help… the “I” in each of those descriptions means that generosity will always have a hard time being a way of life.

Generosity is what happens when I imitate Christ. One verse in the bible puts it this way;

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children ²and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us…  Ephesians 5:1-2a

Do you see it?  Imitate Christ by being generous with love, just like He was generous with His love.  Call me crazy but is it possible that I cannot grow to maturity unless I choose the pathway of Christlike generosity?  Freely you have received… God’s generosity is mind blowingly huge.

Generosity is what happens when gratitude fills my life. I will always lack generosity if I lack gratitude.  In fact, if my gratitude does not produce generosity, it probably is not gratitude.  Look how Jesus ends the verse.  Freely you have received… so what do I do?  From a heart of gratitude… freely give!

Random Act of Kindness: Be generous with someone today.  Give them time, give them a gift, go out of your way and be generous.