Bible | Harbor Life Ministries

Why God wants us to give generously

doug | March 2, 2008

All of creation belongs to God and is God’s gift to us. Most of us work to make money to live on but, even if we work hard to accumulate the money we earn, we did not really ?make? it.

As Christians, we know that our power and ability to become prosperous comes ultimately from the benevolence of our Creator?everything is a gift?and we know that we cannot outlive the generosity of God. Therefore, just as we have received abundantly from God’s generosity, so we are called to imitate God by giving generously ourselves. Giving is a spiritual discipline that should be a regular part of our lives as we follow Christ.

We can all enjoy the full benefit of being well-off financially when we acknowledge that what we have is not our own but that it is simply on loan to us, temporarily gifted to us for purposes that we were born to fulfill, such as caring for ourselves and our families and for the needs of others. When we have more than we need, it takes disciplined effort to avoid becoming possessed by our possessions. Allowing ourselves to be moved when we encounter the needs of others, and then to respond with generosity, is the essence of that effort.

God calls us to care wisely for all of the material and spiritual resources entrusted to us. Giving to meet needs beyond ourselves we experience the liberating spiritual benefit of helping us keep our love for God and our neighbor at the center of our lives, preventing our wealth, the privileges that go along with it, and their preservation from becoming all important to us—and thus destroying us spiritually.

Lives are changed when Christians give generously. Not just the lives of the people served by recipient organizations such as Harbor Life Ministries, but equally importantly—or maybe even more so—the lives of those who do the giving. And for that God gets the glory and is pleased.