What do you think of when you hear the word “generosity?” Webster’s 1828 Dictionary (my favorite dictionary) speaks of generosity as “nobleness of soul.” “Nobleness of soul” addresses a soul marked by the very heart of God. As we examine Scripture, we discover that God is lovingly generous. Therefore, it should be of no surprise that God calls us to whole-life generosity where our following Christ and being changed by Him is reflected in the way we love others.
For whole-life generosity to be a reality for any of us we need a proper view of God. Our view of God dramatically determines the quality of life we experience in Him. There are many defective views of God. A faulty view of God leads to a flawed relationship with Him that leads to a life greatly diminished from God’s ideal for us. To experience a life characterized by whole-life generosity we need a proper view of God.
Simply put, God is our Creator, Lord and Heavenly Father who is: good (Lk 18:19), holy (Isa 5:16), just (Deut 32:4), perfect (Matt 5:48), love (1 Jon 4:8), righteous (Ex 9:27), pure (1 Jn 3:3), all-knowing (1 Jn 3:20), all-powerful (Lk 1:37), all-present (Jer 23:23-24), unchangeable (Mal 3:6), eternal (Gen 21:33) and much more. When we wrap our minds around a proper view of God, who He is, it becomes clear that the gulf between who God is and who we are in immense. So immense is the gulf that we have to ask, “What does God really want with us anyway?”
To answer this question, we must first realize that God does not need us (see: Psalm 50:12, Isa 66:1). Second, we need to accept that although God does not need us, He truly does want us. In fact, God desires to live with us, and through us empowering us to reveal His goodness to the world. God created and redeemed us because He wants us to share in his love (see: Jn 17:21). God created us from the overflow of His love. He desires for us to live generously, which is the overflow of the love we experience in our relationship with Him.
Our generosity begins with God’s love. Consider the Father’s love for Jesus. At the moment of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, the Father declared: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). Hearing that the Father loves the Son probably does not surprise any of us, but when He declared it might. The Father said He was pleased with the Son before Jesus ever preached a sermon, ever performed a miracle, ever called a disciple, ever confronted a Pharisee, before He overcame the temptations of the Devil, before He endured the humiliation of suffering on the cross. When the Father had declared His pleasure in the Son, Jesus had not yet completed any of these things. The Father declared Jesus’ identity as His beloved before He had accomplished these things. The Father’s love came first, not the Son’s obedience. Just like Jesus God’s love for us is unconditional. We can’t earn God’s love, and we don’t have to do so. God’s love is a gift. God’s love is generously and lavishly offered to us.
Whole-life generosity begins with a right relationship with God. Our relationship with the Lord is based on His unconditional love for us displayed by Christ dying for our sins and being resurrected for our salvation (Rom 4:25). Our generosity does not flow from needing to find God’s approval. It is actually the opposite. God has already declared His love for us as His beloved children, and when His love saturates us, through Christ, and by the power of His Spirit, it propels us to obey, serve, and give – whole life generosity oozes from our lives.
I am honored to serve alongside each of you. As John writes: “What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God” (1 Jn 3:1)! God calls us to a whole-life generosity, and such a life is rooted in His love as we follow Christ. Let’s encourage each other to bask in His love and generously radiate it to the world around us. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!