Generosity
“A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” Proverbs 11:25
Anne Frank, a German-Dutch teenager who kept a diary while hiding from the Nazis in Holland is quoted as saying, “No one has ever become poor by giving.” The Bible says that a generous person will prosper.
I have four older brothers. When asked to describe one of my older brothers, I have often found myself saying, “He would give you the shirt off his back if he thought you needed it, even if it was the only shirt he had.” My brother is a giver. He used to tell me, “What goes around comes around.” He believes that he can give away what he has because someone else will eventually give him what he needs. There is something very refreshing about his generosity.
Proverbs says, “Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” Perhaps that’s because we are all designed by the greatest Giver of all, in whose image we are made. When we give, we are stepping into our identity. We are designed to refresh others, to generously give away some of what God has trusted us with. And we can never out-give God. He always sees to it that we are provided for. Philippians 2 speaks about Jesus when it says,
“Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”
Jesus literally gave it all. He laid aside his deity. He gave up his divine privileges. He was born as a helpless baby. And he gave his life on a cross. Jesus taught us how to give. He showed us what generosity looks like. He gave it all away and yet he prospered. God the Father refreshed him when He raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at His right hand.
Winston Churchill once said, ”We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” God will prosper you and refresh you when you are generous. Step into your identity as a giver made in the image of God.