Generosity: It's Not What You Have, It's What You Give
Check out Mark 12:41-44
Mark 12:44 “For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”
Most of us think we are generous, but in reality we can be pretty selfish. Tough statement, right? Because if someone is giving lots of time, talent, or treasure (money), we consider them to be generous. Jesus, though, illustrates a different look at generosity when He is talking about the widow that gave two small coins while those around her gave larger amounts. She gave the least of anyone there, but Jesus said she gave more than anyone else. Have you ever wondered why?
The widow gave everything she had; she gave 100%. Thank about it this way - she had 2 dollars left in her bank account and she gave it all. Sure, others gave $10, $100, $1,000, or more, but they only gave a portion of their excess. I think we can learn something from the widow with two coins.
1. We do not get generous because we have excess. We become generous when we give regardless of what we have.
2. Generosity is sacrificial. The amount does not matter as much as the sacrifice.
3. If we want to be able to give more, it starts by giving with what we have now and not what we hope to give one day.
Now, we have only focused on our treasure, but our time and talent are things we can also be generous with. Right now it is summer; school is out. Students are heading to camps and summer conferences across the nation. During these weeks, we give a lot of our time to God because the week is set aside and we feel generous. But then we return and school, work, or family take away our time. We can no longer spend as much time with God as we did the week away to camp/retreat because we do not have as much time available to give. We were generous with our time in our abundance at camp; the question is, "Will we be generous in our time with God when life takes up a good amount of it?" When we have a lot less to give, will we choose to still be generous to God or will we choose to spend it elsewhere (binge watch on Netflix, social media, TV, surfing the web)?
Take a look at your time, talent, and treasure. And ask yourself, “Are you being generous with them for God?”