Jesus Paved the Way to Generous Living

How do you become a truly generous person? The kind of person who, when others think of you they say, “Dang, my friend is radically and outrageously generous!!” I don’t know about you, but that would be a pretty cool thing to have written on a tombstone… haha! 

So how do you do it? Is there a number you need to meet? Or a percentage of our income you need to give away? What makes someone outrageously generous?? 

Earlier this year I read a fantastic book called God and Money, and one of the main lessons I took away from this book was that we are asking the wrong questions! 

The question we need to ask ourselves shouldn’t be “how much should we give?” but rather “how much should we keep?”

Woah! 

Simply put – how much is an appropriate amount to keep for yourself to meet your basic needs and to be able to commit yourself fully to the calling God has on your life? 

This blew my mind! It was such a great reminder that this world, my life, my resources, my money, and my time are NOT my own. It is all borrowed. Not only that, but all these things that I have are not for our own glory or goodness – no they are for the glory of God and the good of others. 

Yes, absolutely, God wants us to find joy, and enjoyment in the abundance that he blesses us with. But more than that, he wants us to partner with him on his mission to redeem the world.  

Jesus did just this when he began his ministry. He recognized that all of his resources were not for his own comforts but rather to radically transform the world. 

God was and still is and will always be the most radical giver – because he gave us Jesus! This year, as you celebrate the birth of our Lord & Savior, reflect on his generosity and how you can model your own life after his so you too can become a radically and outrageously generous person to the glory of God! 

Merry Christmas! 
Katie Jones