**Unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: 1 Samuel 1:5
**But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 1John 3:17
Generosity comes from a Heart of True Love. In this passage from Samuel we see that Hannah’s husband’s great love for her caused him to be very generous with her.
True Love makes us want to do something extra for the one we love. We want to go the extra mile. We want to pour out more kindness. Generosity doesn’t have to be something monetary. We can be generous with our time, generous with our praise, generous with our material goods and generous to share those that we love with others.
Our verse from 1st John can be looked at from a point of monetary value, yet, I believe that people have many kinds of needs, not only material needs. Don’t people also have the need of being loved, the need of having someone that will listen to them, the need to be understood, the need for someone to be empathetic with their situation? Do they not need compassion, gentleness, kindness? Do they not need someone to be willing to be there with them when their world falls apart?
Living a selfish life leaves us empty and alone. If we are not willing to be generous in every way with others, then maybe we shouldn’t expect them to be generous with us?
There is a popular theme song in many churches today about the Reckless Love of God. The definition of Reckless according to Google is…heedless of danger or the consequences of one’s actions
Jesus Christ was Reckless in purpose, not Reckless in foolishness.
Here are the lyrics…
Before I spoke a word, You were singing over me
You have been so, so good to me
Before I took a breath, You breathed Your life in me
You have been so so kind to me
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the 99
And I couldn’t earn it
I don’t deserve it, still You give yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me
You have been so, so good to me
When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me
You have been so, so kind to me
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the 99
And I couldn’t earn it
I don’t deserve it, still You give yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of God
(There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me) (3x)
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the 99
I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still You give yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of God
Doesn’t this describe what we already know about Jesus Christ? The immense generosity of his love makes our love look pitiful to be honest.
The theme of Christ’s life, for me, is that He does for others what they cannot do for themselves. Everything Jesus Christ did and does is from a heart of overwhelming generosity. He gave up his life so that others could live, and live it more abundantly.
True Love is generous. Although we cannot offer all that Christ offered, we can point others to him so that they can receive the same abundant, generous, overwhelming, Reckless Love from him.
Whatever it is that we have, whether it be material or of the heart we have been given it so that we can share it with others. Because True Love is generous.
Jesus did not have dollars or euros or Bitcoin to give away, so he shared from his heart, from his essence. What He had already received from the Father He gave back out to those in need and He gave abundantly.
As always, Christ is our example. We will never be able to give more than He gave.
But let’s give it a try.
Because True Love is generous.
Link to Reckless Love