Give Generously

I was at Walmart about a week ago checking out my few essentials in the self-checkout when a woman comes up to me and hands me twenty dollars and a little verse attached to it, saying, “Please use this towards your purchase today.” I was shocked and felt so blessed, and watched as this angel made her way around to hand the same twenty dollars to the rest of the customers in the self-checkout as well. I thanked her profusely and in my heart asked God to bless this wonderful giver.

The next day I went into my Bible app to read the verse of the day, and laughed in delight at God’s humor and always perfect timing:

Give generously and generous gifts will be given back to you, shaken down to make room for more. Abundant gifts will pour out upon you with such an overflowing measure that it will run over the top! Your measurement of generosity becomes the measurement of your return.

Luke 6:38 TPT

I heard this once said by a famous financial advisor Dave Ramsey of Financial Peace University, “God knows we’re at our best when we give.” And isn’t this so true? The most joyful people are givers, because when we give, we become more like God, who is the ultimate Giver:

For God so loved the world that He [GAVE] His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

In this day and age, the world teaches us to cling on tightly to our treasures, our gifts, and even our time, but Jesus teaches of a right side up kingdom that loves fiercely without judgement, forgives freely, and gives generously without expecting anything in return. We understand that as God’s children, all we have comes from God and that we can outpour that blessing to those around us.

I am learning so much of the importance of giving generously and emotional generosity to those around us. I read this in a book I am currently wading through called 5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn’t Quit (5 Habits from the Book of Ruth) by Nicki Koziarz:

• Habit Four: She Gives Others What She Needs—“Give, and it will be given to you, a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you”(Luke 6:38).

• Nicki describes that “when we give to others what we need, something freeing happens: We receive what we need too.”
• “When we offer emotional generosity to others, we create the atmosphere for God to do something powerful in us and through us.”

Often I find that the measure we use is we give out what we think the other person deserves:

He was rude and mean-spirited to me, so I’m just going to be curt and dismissive.

She was judgmental of my parenting-method in front of everyone at the store, so I’m going to give her a piece of my mind.

My husband was unloving towards me, so I’m going to ignore his needs until he apologizes.

Nicki describes that when she gives others what she thinks they deserve, none of those things have ever provided her with what she truly needed, and usually what it brought was more hurt and pain, more mistakes, and additional refinement on her part of what she needed to repent of.

Do you need grace today, lovely one? Give grace. Do you need joy and peace? Give joy and peace. Do you need a financial blessing? Bless somebody financially. Do you need a listening ear? Give that listening ear to someone. Friend, the measure that you use will be given back to you!

So how can we love fiercely, forgive freely, and give generously today? How can we bless our neighbors, whether financially, with our kindness, or with our time? Who is God laying on your heart that will exemplify His goodness and love?