Praying you are all healthy and happy today.
Are you a generous person? Give some thought to all that you have been blessed with,
then give thought to why you have been gifted in this way. God’s Word tells us:
“You will be made rich in every way so that
you can be generous on every occasion,
and through us your generosity will result
in thanksgiving to God.” 2 Corinthians 9:11
Generosity makes me think of a CD of Nelson Searcy I listened to recently entitled:
“Leadership Skills for a Growing Church”
Nelson Searcy is the founding pastor of The Journey Church of the City in New York, NY; an innovative, multicultural church in the heart of Manhattan and is one of the fastest growing churches in America.
Here is his “Secret skill #5”: All leaders of growing churches are outrageously generous. Most people don’t get into ministry to get rich. If you did, you will be sorely disappointed. We have a tendency to be cheap due to a lower pay scale. “You make a living by what you get, you make a life by what you give.” We have the biggest reasons to be generous. Most great leaders are generous people. God gives more back as we are generous. John Wesley became wealthy. He was generous. When God blesses you, be prepared to be outrageously generous. How are you modeling generosity?
Principles of generosity:
- God owns it all.
- God entrusts me with some. How you handle the “some” has an effect on how much more you receive. It could mean more financial blessing but may be a “more” of something different. It could mean the intangible hand of God’s blessing. The opposite of generosity is not just stinginess or greed, but ungratefulness.
- Generosity honors God. This changes your thinking. Most people operate in a scarcity paradigm instead of a abundant paradigm. Illustration: contact lens solution. He was almost out of solution. He used just the minimum amount to get by. He looked under the sink—there was a brand new bottle of solution there. This changed the way he used the contact lens solution—he used plenty, knowing and trusting there was an abundant supply. Sometimes we fear God will not give us more, we end up damaging the very things God has entrusted to us. We are empowered when we operate with an abundant outlook on all things—trusting in God’s abundant supply.
- Be generous with our encouragement. We are often too quick with the kick in the pants; too slow with the pat on the back.
- Be generous with money—our personal finances. He went to the restaurant where pastors conference would go—the staff was complaining among themselves about how poor the tips were of the pastors. Bad rap for being cheap. So quick to save a time that we lose a life. We have a ministry purpose but a worldly stinginess. Generosity changes you.
- Be generous with your time/assistance. We should not short people.
- Be generous with rewards. With volunteers and staff. Take time to celebrate, bonuses, time.
- Be generous with life. Model generosity, as God has “given” so much for us. Generosity is a key to reproducing ministry.
Prayer Idea: Thank God for the forgiveness God has shown you in Jesus, removing your
sin. Give thanks to God for all the blessings he has placed in your life. Ask God to develop
more generosity in your heart.
Blessings on your week!
Pastor Dan