There is one who scatters and increases and one who withholds more than is right only to be in need.
~Proverbs 11.24
God is generous. God gives. That is who he is and what he does. Generosity is his character and the culture of the divine family. In the eternal relations of Father, Son, and Spirit, there is a constant giving, receiving, and giving back. Jesus, revealing his eternal relationship with the Father, tells the Jews that the Father has life in himself and has given to the Son to have life in himself (Jn 5.26). The Son, glorified by the Father, gives glory back to the Father (Jn 17.1). The Spirit is giving to the Father and the Son as the bond of love between them. Creation itself is a gift of each member of the Godhead to one another, and they continue to give generously.
All creation, with man as its apex, receives life from the Trinity, not only initially but continually, moment by moment. When creation fell under the curse of sin, God revealed the depth of his generosity by the Father giving the Son, the Son giving his life, and the Spirit being given to grant us life from the dead.
What is intriguing about this generosity is that it produces an abundance. You might think that if you have a store of something and begin to give it away, you will have or become less. But that is not the way God’s economy works. In a culture in which God’s life is reflected, the more you give, the more you are given, and the more you are given, the more you have. Generosity produces wealth. Glory increases through generosity.
This way, or life, of generosity is a life of death and resurrection in which you gain through losing. Jesus tells us in John 12 that this abundance through giving is written on every seed. Unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies in the ground, it produces much fruit (Jn 12.24). Generosity is the way to abundance because death-and-resurrection is God’s economy. The Father gives himself to the Son, the Son to the Father, the Spirit to the Father and Son, and the Father and Son to the Spirit. They bear much fruit as they give of themselves, like the seeds that image their lives.
Whenever I give myself, I am, in some sense, ripping myself apart. If I have poured myself into work and earned wages, when I give those away, I am giving myself, tearing myself apart. When I do this according to God’s wisdom, this is the way to life.
Those who hoard their lives lose them. Those who lose their lives for Christ’s sake become more and better than they can imagine.
God is generous. God gives. It is no wonder, therefore, that generosity is expected from those who bear his image, especially those who have been generously given new life as the restored image of God in Christ. Generosity is integral to our mission. If our mission is to make the world more and better than it is (and it is), and if generosity is God’s economy of abundance, then we must have a culture of generosity to accomplish our task.
These are some of the foundational principles as to why Solomon deals with the subject of generosity with his son, the king-in-waiting. Solomon wants his son to accumulate true riches. The way of wisdom that accumulates these true riches is paved with generosity.
Whenever we think of generosity, our minds tend toward economic generosity, giving money to those in need. That is certainly one expression of generosity, but it is not the only expression of it. Generosity is showing mercy, which comes in all shapes and sizes. However we show mercy, the same principle applies: when you sow mercy, you reap abundant mercy. The opposite is also true: if you show no mercy, you will receive none.
This is a principle that is well-founded in Scripture. James says plainly, “For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment” (Jms 2.13). God has not set up a quid pro quo system in which he keeps ledgers to give you proportionate mercy as you sow. Mercy is the character of God. Those who show mercy reveal that they share the character of God. You will receive no mercy when you give none because you demonstrate by your stinginess that you have no desire to be a part of the culture of the divine family. This isn’t a superficial, impersonal business transaction. This concerns your nature and whether or not it is conformed to the nature of God himself.
If you show mercy in giving to the economically poor when you have the means, then you reveal the character of a son of God to whom the earth and its fullness are promised. If you show no mercy in giving monetarily, you will be disinherited and exiled from the earth and all of its riches. If you show mercy in forgiving others, refusing to hold bitterness and/or exact revenge, then you will receive forgiveness from God. If you refuse to show mercy in forgiving others, you will not receive forgiveness from God. Jesus says this plainly in Matthew 6.14-15, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (see also Mt 18.21-35).
God is generous. God gives. Those who bear his image in Christ Jesus do the same. Pray for a generous heart.
Photo by Connor Hall on Unsplash
