Freely you have received; freely give. – Matthew 10:8

Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
    who conduct their affairs with justice. – Psalm 112:5

A generous person will prosper;
    whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. – Proverbs 11:25

recently, I have run into a misunderstanding regarding generosity that, evidently, many people hold. They think generosity and wealth are two sides of the same coin. Put another way, some people assume that if a person is generous it also means they are wealthy – or that only wealthy people have the capacity to be generous.

Not true! Generosity is something else entirely. Generous people do not have money to spare so much as hearts that are full to overflowing. The most generous people I know seldom if ever have a slush fund at their disposal.

My parents (Grace and David Maul) are a great example. Some people were shocked at how small their account balances were after they passed away. They were remarkably generous people in their lifetime, to such an extent that those they helped often had no idea how personally costly their generosity was.

And it was more than simply “heeding the scriptures,” there wasn’t an ounce of obligation or follow-the-rules-ism in their giving. For my parents it was love that spilled over and it was also belief. I don’t know if Grace and David Maul were familiar with the famous John Wesley quote, but it sums up their approach nicely:

"Do all the good you can.
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can....."
- John Wesley

Jesus shared several stories that illustrated his thoughts on generosity. The following two examples tell us everything we need to know:

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” – Luke 21:1-4.

The other story was the rich man who engorged himself with his wealth, stashing it all away rather than using it to “do all the good [he] can.” (Luke 12:13-21).

I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

My parents were certainly rich toward God.

This is how Rebekah and I try to live, too – in all the ways we can… at all the times we can. Not because we have cash on hand, but in response to the fullness we know in our hearts. We enjoy what the writer of Second Timothy refers to as, “the life that is truly life…”

Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. – 1 Timothy 6:18-19

In Acts 3, Peter and John put it this way: “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth…”

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth…

We may not have a slush fund, but we do have hearts that are full to overflowing with Good News. And so, yes, we are wealthy, filthy rich in all the ways that count – and what counts is love, grace, mercy, healing, justice, encouragement, light, generosity and promise.

If we stay full enough in the Spirit, some of it is going to bubble up and get all over the place. At least that is the plan.

– DEREK