The Spirit of Generosity

The Spirit of Generosity

By Apostle Felix

13  In return, King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and had requested in addition to what he had given her consistent with his generosity. Afterward, she returned to her own land with her servants. 

1 Kings 10: 13

Generosity is the quality of being kind, understanding, and willing to give freely. It means sharing your time, money, food, or support with others without needing anything back. Generosity is a long-gone trait in the body of Christ. The church has been conditioned to give in order to receive. But God’s intention of generosity is actually to subdue the selfish nature in man. Generosity is the nature of God because He is a giving God. He gave His Son to be the propitiation for our sins without conditions. He gave not because man had given or rather satisfied God. God was only generous. He gave from His bounty for the salvation of man.

Solomon gave according to his generosity. Solomon’s attitude of giving suggests that one cannot give beyond one’s level of commitment to generosity. Solomon was a generous man.  You cannot give when your heart is not consistent with generosity. Some believers are emotional givers. They can only give when there is some pressure exerted to do so. These are believers who give when they are manipulated into giving by promising them bountiful returns. But the spirit of generosity does not respond to promises of receiving in return, but responds to fulfilling a need.

1  We want you to know, brothers, about God’s grace that was given to the churches of Macedonia.
2  In spite of their terrible ordeal of suffering, their abundant joy and deep poverty has led them to be abundantly generous.
3  I can testify that by their own free will they have given to the utmost of their ability, yes, even beyond their ability.
4  They begged us earnestly for the privilege of participating in this ministry to the saints.
5  We did not expect that! They gave themselves to the Lord first and then to us, since this was God’s will. 

2 Corinthians 8: 1 – 5

The Macedonian church gave according to their understanding of generosity. They understood the generosity of the Lord, and that was compelling enough for them to give even when they were in need themselves. Their commitment to the Lord determined their generosity, too. You cannot give above your commitment to the Lord. Our generosity is simply our response to the love of God.

The attitude of withholding is against the nature of God. The church began with a noticeable trait of sharing. The church had all things in common because the people shared their substance.

32  And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
33  And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 

Acts 4: 32, 33

The church was born as a generous church because it was born of God. Since you are born of God, you are supposed to be generous. Giving should not be something that has to be the main teaching of the church. A lion is never taught how to roar because it is a lion. You can be reminded from time to time, but giving should come naturally with believers.