In Response to God's Generosity
The following reflection was excerpted from the Stewardship Study Bible published by Zondervan.
Several psalms praise God for his past generosity. Such psalms remind the listeners of how lavishly God had blessed his people in spite of their historic disobedience. They remind us of how patient and persistent God has been, while assuring us of his future goodness. Beyond this, these psalms tell us how to practice generosity. How can we refuse to share with others when God has been so kind to his people—and to us? Even when other people are ungrateful and irresponsible, we are to look for opportunities to help them—just as we have been helped.
The reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546) addresses this issue in "Concerning Christian Liberty," his classic statement on the freedom the believer enjoys from the burden of the law and the anxiety of self-reliance. He says:
Although the Christian is thus free from all works, he ought in this liberty to empty himself, take upon himself the form of a servant, be made in the likeness of men, be found in human form, and to serve, help, and in every way deal with his neighbor as he sees that God through Christ has dealt and still deals with him. This he should do freely, having regard for nothing but divine approval.
He ought to think: "Although I am an unworthy and condemned man, my God has given me in Christ all the riches of righteousness and salvation without any merit on my part, out of pure, free mercy, so that from now on I need nothing except faith which believes that this is true. Why should I not, therefore, freely, joyfully, with all my heart, and with an eager will do all things which I know are pleasing and acceptable to such a Father who has overwhelmed me with his inestimable riches? I will, therefore, give myself as a Christ to my neighbor, just as Christ offered himself to me; I will do nothing in this life except what I see is necessary, profitable, and salutary to my neighbor since through faith I have an abundance of all good things in Christ."
Behold, from faith thus flow forth love and joy in the Lord, and from love a joyful, willing, and free mind that serves one's neighbor willingly and takes no account of gratitude or ingratitude, of praise or blame, of gain or loss. For a man does not serve that he may put men under obligations. He does not distinguish between friends and enemies or anticipate their thankfulness or unthankfulness, but he most freely and most willingly spends himself and all that he has, whether he wastes all on the thankless or whether he gains a reward...
We conclude, therefore, that a Christian lives not in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor. Otherwise, he is not a Christian. He lives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love. By faith he is caught up beyond himself into God. By love he descends beneath himself into his neighbor. Yet he always remains in God and in his love, as Christ says in John 1: "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
Faith & Finance Perspective
Generosity can take on many forms. We can be generous with our money, our time, our skills, our comfort and compassion—and by practicing random acts of kindness. We show generosity to others just as God lavishly bestows His generosity on us.
Meditate on some of the things God has done for you. What do you think motivated Him to do these things? How should His generosity to you spur you on toward generosity to others?
Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever.
- Psalm 112:5-6