A Lesson on Generosity

I used to have a really terrible attitude about giving at church.

See I grew up in a church that taught tithing … my dad was a preacher. But as I grew older and got out on my own, I ended up as a single mom with four young kids scraping to get by and always afraid that I would not have enough. I came up with a bunch of reasons as to why I could not tithe or give. I believed that if God owned everything – surely God would rather me spend what little I had to support my children. Then I found a Bible verse in 2nd Corinthians 9 about God loving a cheerful giver. I reasoned that since I was certainly not cheerful about giving, this completely let me off the hook.

When I quit giving, somehow, I found myself with less money and went deeper and deeper into debt. Then, God kept throwing verses at me, like Luke 6:38 “Give and it shall be given unto you… For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  And then more from 2 Corinthians chapter 9…. “Whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will reap generously” … and it says that God is able to bless us abundantly.

Then my adult Sunday School teacher, who greatly influenced me to recommit my life to Jesus, gave me a mite from Israel – like the widow’s mite. You may know the story of how Jesus used her as an example as he observed her giving all she had although she did not have much.

So, I began to give and tithe again… and God blessed me. I seemed to have more money – my children had all they needed, I began to get raises at my work, and paid off debts. I found that giving is about how much I would trust that God was powerful enough to take care of me and my kids – it was about whether I believed that what the Bible said was true.

Today with my kids up and out, I continue to tithe and give, and it is so amazing! When I give more, God covers it and blesses me more! I know that God will not only use our giving to point others to Jesus, but He will also use our giving to develop our trust and give us the evidence that He WILL take care of us.