Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift ...
2 Corinthians 9:5
Generous people are amazing! They always seem to be in the lives of others helping them through whatever they are going through--it doesn't even have to be money--sometimes it is just time and a listening ear. There is a genuineness that comes from them that reaches into the hearts of others and brings out the very best. We all want to be thought of as generous people. Generosity is the outpouring of a heart full of love. J.I. Packer said, The measure of all love is its giving. The measure of the love of God is the cross of Christ.
In today's passage, the Apostle Paul is talking to the Corinthian church about a generous gift that they had promised to give. They had experienced the Apostle Paul sharing the gospel with them and their lives had been dramatically changed. They fell in love with Jesus. And when a heart is captivated by Jesus, the natural result is that we begin to love others like He loved us.
God didn't have to give us anything. He could have sat up in heaven and complained about how bad we were. But He didn't because God is love. His love is not passive. His love is not lame. His love is not some big blanket love that covers the world with warm fuzzies. His love is transforming. His love is fierce. His love solves problems. His love gets angry. His love is fighting our battles. He loves us so much that He thinks we are worth fighting for. He defeated the greatest enemy of our lives--sin and death. And this was at the cost of having His Son die on the cross for us. The Word of God tells us If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else He wouldn't gladly and freely do for us (Romans 8:32). That is so awesome!
When we truly experience that love and see how much He has forgiven us, we will be those who love much. Our heart will be so Thankful to God that we will be generous with everything that we have and are. The secret is of being generous is losing ourselves in the Amazing love and grace of God.
Blessings to you!
I heard someone say that our generosity towards others should be the natural response of Christians because we serve a God who is the epitome of generosity. He has given us all the good things we have- talents, treasures, time, etc- so we should try to give those to others.