Wednesday Wisdom | Generosity – The Devotional Guy™

I’ve thought a lot about generosity the past few months. What does it mean to be generous or what does it look like to be a cheerful giver? While attending a celebration of life event for my mom’s dear friend of fifty years, people shared how they looked forward to getting cards from her.

One of her granddaughters shared how, upon hearing about her grandmother’s death, she prayed to get one more card for her birthday. And when she opened her mailbox, there it was!

Writing cards is one of the ways her grandmother showed generosity to others. Writing a card to acknowledge a birthday, special event, or just to say “I’m thinking of you,” is a simple and easy way to live generously and love genuinely.

The Bible has some things to say about generosity.

It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice.

Psalm 112:5 NRSV

Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap; because the standard you use will be the standard used for you.

Luke 6:38 NJB

We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

2 Corinthians 8:1–2 NRSV

They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.

1 Timothy 6:18 ESV

Over the course of history, people have shared their thoughts about generosity.

The test of generosity is not how much you give, but how much you have left.

Anon

A man there was, though some did count him mad, the more he cast away, the more he had.

John Bunyan

A cheerful giver does not count the cost of what he gives. His heart is set on pleasing and cheering him to whom the gift is given.

Julian of Norwich

If you are not generous with a meager income, you will never be generous with abundance.

Harold Nye

He who is not liberal with what he has, does but deceive himself when he thinks he would be liberal if he had more.

William S. Plummer

He who gives what he would as readily throw away, gives without generosity; for the essence of generosity is in self-sacrifice.

Sir Henry Taylor

You do not have to be rich to be generous. If he has the spirit of true generosity, a pauper can give like a prince.

Corrine U. Wells

I’m grateful to Martin Manser for gathering these quotations and generously sharing them in his work titled Christian Quotations.

Courtesy of LOGOS
https://www.logos.com/

In His generosity, I believe God has healed my mind. In late 2024, my brain was fried. Overwhelmed, I had lost my ability to think clearly. I’m happy to report that through the Lord’s generous grace and mercy, I believe I am healed.

How about you, my friend? How have you experienced or expressed generosity through your life in Christ?