Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and the one who waters will himself be watered.
Proverbs 11:25
The fourth affirmation/prayer point is “I am generous.” No one is, or even can be, as generous as our heavenly Father. God takes nothing and gives everything. Generous is one of God’s attributes and, as image-bearers, He shares that attribute with us, so that we can reflect His generosity out into the world.
To some people, generosity comes as naturally as breathing. My husband is one of these amazing people. His generous nature is one of the things I love most about him…and it is sometimes a huge source of concern to me.
I am not a generous person by nature. I could attempt to reason that, as an only child, I didn’t learn to share, but in truth, I am just greedy. Our human nature is to be generous with our “extras”, and I can do that with pleasure, but ask me to give sacrificially? All my worldly excuses take over:
“What if I need that?”
“I worked hard for that!”
“Who’s going to help me out when I need something?”
That last question is the kicker. As a Christ follower, I should know who will help me out and trust Him to do it. It all comes down to this: Do I trust that God will provide what I need? Notice, I said “need”. God may not supply all that I want, but I can count on Him to supply all that I need.
If I truly believe this and accept that He knows what is best for me, I should be able to give to others without counting the cost. If everything I have comes from God, then it was never mine and should easily be shared.
“What about all the scams and schemers out there?” I hear some of you thinking. I believe that if you are giving with a pure heart, God sees that as righteousness. What the receiver of your gift does with it, is between them and God.
Now, I don’t want to come across as someone who has perfected the art of generosity – far from it! That is why it is on my list of prayer points. So I pray…
Abba, You created me to bear Your image by reflecting all of Your shared attributes to the world around me. Forgive my selfish heart for not always being generous with the blessings You bestow upon me. Everything I have is a gift meant to be shared, so I can show others how generous You are. Thank You for Your extravagant generosity toward me. Will You help me to be more like You? I pray in the matchless name of Jesus. Amen