Matthew 5:42
“Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.”

In writing these daily reflections, I am very fortunate to work with an excellent editor, Marcus Goodyear, who helps point out where certain changes in content and structure will improve the message. In reading this latest verse from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, I’m wondering if Jesus would mind if I served as his editor, just for this one troublesome verse. Perhaps something like this,

Dear Jesus,

I am in receipt of your latest draft of the Sermon on the Mount. Nice work. Opening with the blessings is very strong, and I like the way you’ve updated several of Moses’ commandments. However, I would like to propose just one tiny change to your comments on giving and lending. I found myself wishing for a bit more clarity. The way you’ve written it seems a trifle ambiguous. So I was thinking of something like this:

Give as you are able to trusted family and friends and lend to those with good references and FICO credit ratings above 740.

I think you’ll agree that these edits will be appreciated by your audience.

Sincerely,
Dave Peterson, Editor

Most of us would happily put an X in the generosity box as long as we could be selective about who we give and lend to. Unfortunately, Jesus includes these two words everyone and anyone, and he leaves out the clauses and conditions that we’d hope to see.

In fairness to Jesus, I need to tell you that just a little later on, he will also say, “Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine.” Jesus does expect some discretion when we consider giving valuable things to others. But even so, as Matthew Henry, the insightful eighteenth century Bible commentator summarizes, “Always be ready to give, and always be ready to lend.“

I’m writing today with my tongue in my cheek, but I do believe that generosity is the secret of a happy life. And I believe that Jesus is very serious about his call to a radically generous lifestyle that is more willing to give and lend than human reason would ever expect. And the exhilarating truth of this can only be known when we “give to everyone who begs from us, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from us.”

Stay generous, my friend.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: In what ways is generosity easy for you? In what ways is it more difficult? Do you see evidence of many undeserved blessings in your life, or do you sense that you’ve had to fight and claw your way for everything you’ve got? Where do you sense God is nudging you to an expanded form of generosity?

PRAYER: Gracious and generous Lord, if generosity is the secret of life, then why do I find it hard to give? Why do I hold tightly to what I possess? Why am I so cautious about others in need? If generosity really is the secret of life, then I give you permission today to help me live in accordance with your word. I will give and lend to those you send my way. Amen.

© 2001 – 2015 H. E. Butt Foundation. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from Laity Lodge and TheHighCalling.org. Article by Dave Peterson.

One of the biggest ways to conquer fear is to be generous. Okay…maybe generosity won’t conquer your fear of snakes or heights, but it does have an amazing propensity to fight fears of inadequacy, not having enough, not keeping up, and so much more.

In The Generosity Bet (and its predecessor, Stories of the Generous Life), we interviewed 42 people about their life stories and what they have learned about giving along the way. These people ranged from janitors to billionaires, college students to retirees, farmers to Wall Street traders. But one theme common to all of them? They are some of the most fearless people you’ll ever meet.

Generosity does that to you. It weasels out all the little things you hold onto, the things you’re afraid to let go, the fears and little pleasures you’ve nestled away in quiet dark places where you think no one else will find them, so no one else can want them or take them. It makes you confront your heart and realize how often you’ve doubted that God is good and that God will provide when He’s asked you to give.

Generosity pulls your heart into the light. Wide-eyed and blinking and maybe stumbling a little, you begin to uncurl your fingers around the things that once seemed so important—that time, those resources, that influence, that security in your stuff, that appearance of being better than the Joneses, that control.

And as you begin to give away, you begin to discover something else. You begin to see, to truly see people and needs and what it means to be alive and human. And you begin to see God, to see that He’s still vibrantly alive and working and light is spreading and the darkness is fading away.

You find that the more you give away, the more your hands come back full—come back full of joy. And the more you soak your heart in joy, the more your hands can give away, because you don’t need stuff to make you feel good or look okay. Most of all, the more you give away, the less you fear because you don’t have the need to hold on so tight anymore.

So take a step toward fearlessness and toward joy. Be generous.

For more ideas on how to start your generosity journey, pick up a copy of The Generosity Bet today!

What is God asking me to do?

First and foremost, we should always be asking where God is calling us to give. Be sensitive to those “God nudges” that ask you to notice someone, to give. An older gentleman, one of the most generous people I know, said that when he’s in a position for spontaneous generosity, he’s found he needs to obey those God nudges within 10 seconds, otherwise his more logical brain will talk himself out of it. Of course, this doesn’t mean to give to everything that pulls your emotional strings—instead, it’s about very intentionally and carefully listening for God’s voice. 

And God isn’t always asking you to give money. Sometimes it would be more helpful to give in another way—take someone out to coffee (time), babysit their kids (service), help them set up a budget (talent), repair electrical wiring (skills), lend them your car (resources), introduce them to a friend whose company is hiring (influence), etc.

What if the recipient doesn’t use my gift wisely?

Again, it goes back to listening to God’s voice. If God placed that person on your heart, He has a reason for your gift and you can trust Him with it. After all, we must first remember God’s grace toward us—an undeserved gift. God gave us His Son knowing that we did not deserve it and would so many times not use His gift well. And yet, He gave anyway.

Also, the gift you’re thinking about making is God’s money or God’s resource in the first place. Since God owns it all, your credit cards belong to Him. He’s just given us some of His credit cards to manage for a little while. So, if God asks us to use His credit card to love on one of His people, God will take care of the results.

God sees the whole picture and has a purpose for your gift, even if it appears the recipient did not use the gift well. Maybe the act of giving is for your own heart, for someone else watching, or for the recipient later on down the road. I read a story recently about a woman who didn’t have money for a bus pass, so a gentleman gave her twenty dollars. At the time, she was a raging alcoholic, so she spent the money and got drunk. However, the memory of the gift always stayed with her, and eventually was one of the reasons she is now sober and tries to serve others.

But what about being a good steward? 

There definitely is a balance. God calls us to be good stewards and to use the resources He has given us wisely. Many generous givers will tell you they have developed giving guidelines or have specific types of ministries they believe they are called to support. They typically use the majority of their resources like a spear—to specifically and strategically support a few ministries and causes God has laid on their hearts. Good stewardship does call us to thoughtfully give of our resources.

However, most generous givers will also tell you about the importance of spontaneous or undedicated giving. Spontaneous giving is spur-of-the-moment giving, like when your waitress mentions she’s expecting a baby and her husband just got laid off. Undedicated giving is when you give to your church or a ministry and don’t place any restrictions on where the gift should go.

These two types of giving are what Pastor Rick Warren calls the “good for your heart” giving.  As you listen to God, you’ll find that these kinds of giving are just as important because they help your heart let go of control as you experience the joy of generosity.

In all, generosity is not a set formula. It’s not giving your 10% and assuming God is now pleased with you. It’s not about giving in a certain way or to certain people at the right times. It is a journey and it is about listening to God’s voice along the way.

For more stories on how real people have dealt with these issues on their generosity journeys, purchase “The Generosity Bet” today.

1. Pastor Rick Warren, Saddleback Church

“Two things I asked of You. Do not refuse me before I die: keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.” – Proverbs 30:7-9

“Everybody talks about the Prayer of Jabez, but you ought to learn to pray the Prayer of Agur where he says, ‘Lord don’t let me become too poor or too rich, but just give me what I need.’

“…I believe there’s a direct connection between maturity and money, between spiritual power and possession, between how much God is able to bless me and how good a money manager I am. And if God cannot trust you with material blessing, He’s not going to give you spiritual power. And I’m far more interested in the power and the anointing and the blessing of God.”

2. Craig & April Chapman, INRIX 

“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.’” – Malachi 3:10

“Our goal in life–and our security–was all about financial independence and worldly success. But things changed when April and I [Craig] were married in 1994. We had both been previously married, and both brought significant debt into our marriage. But, in spite of our difficult financial situation, our opinion of biblical giving changed very quickly. April was introduced to Malachi 3:10 and shared with me that it is the only place in the Bible where God asks us to test Him. We both knew in our hearts that if we truly loved God, it was only right that we obey His command to give.”

3. Alan Barnhart, Barnhart Crane & Rigging

“But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.” – I Timothy 6:9

“I had a natural tendency, maybe everyone does, to want more stuff, to want nice stuff. I wanted to counteract that, not only for myself, but also for my family. When my family and I looked at going into business, we saw as a dangerous thing if we succeeded. So we decided, ‘Let’s not do this unless we put some safeguards in our lives to make this business a positive thing rather than a negative.’ We set out not to get rich. We set out to avoid becoming rich.”

4. Henry Kaestner, Sovereign’s Capital 

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” – II Corinthians 8:9

“A friend challenged me to answer why I gave. I said something about God giving us a lot so we wanted to give back. However, in the back of my mind, I was thinking that my wife and I were probably giving 20% now—double tithing. There’s probably a place in Heaven for the double-tithers. And I was thinking that God would be happy with our giving because He needed our money to fund things that weren’t being funded. Ultimately, it was bad theology.

“That question brought me back to passages like 2 Corinthians 8:9 where it explains the difference between wealth and poverty. God took two loaves and five fish and fed two thousand. He doesn’t need our money. He wants our hearts.”

5. Vince Elliott, Fortiter Wealth Management

“Otherwise you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” – Deuteronomy 8:18

“I’m a financial advisor who thinks money isn’t very important. In fact, I think wealth may be more dangerous to your family than a blessing. My role in client’s lives is to help them keep money in its proper place and help clients pursue their true roles. I know the man you claim to be, and I’m going to walk alongside you to help you remain that man because money will change who you are. The only way to keep that from happening is to hold wealth with an open hand.”

What verses have shaped your understanding of generosity?

Ever considered the cost of generosity? It seems risky. It doesn’t always make sense. It’s like making a bet with God, and many people wonder if it is worth it.

Author William F. High and co-author Ashley B. McCauley have compiled the stories of the twenty-one entrepreneurs, risk-takers, and everyday dreamers featured in this book—and hope for readers to discover that these stories can easily become their own.

Within the pages of “The Generosity Bet,” readers will find the stories of:

• A man who started giving even though his company was on the verge of bankruptcy
• A professional baseball player who lived a generous life even when he was ready to quit the game
• A software developer who quit his job at the peak of his career to go into ministry,
• A homemaker whose husband died in a plane crash and learned to trust again through giving.

Contributors include Rich Warren, Saddleback Church; Craig Groeschel, LifeChurch; David Green, Hobby Lobby; Jeremy Affeldt, San Francisco Giants; and more.

Discover the rewards and joy that come through the journey of a generous life. The risk is high, but the payoff is extraordinary. These stories will not only entice, but also prepare, those who are ready and willing to take “The Generosity Bet.”

“Bill High’s recent book leads to discovering the true power of generosity.”— Governor Mike Huckabee, Host – “Huckabee”

 “This book shows you the way to a joy-filled life as you give your heart and life to the Giver of all givers.” — Mike Sweeney, Kansas City Royals

“Bill High’s message isn’t just about being generous; it’s about the very real process of becoming generous.” — Robert Morris, Founding Senior Pastor – Gateway Church

“…a collection of fascinating accounts from people who have wrestled with the “whys and hows,” and discovered God’s blessings in the process of living generously.” — Jim Daly, President – Focus on the Family

Interviews, review copies and giveaway copies are available upon request.

To download a press kit, click here.

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Brad Herman

(719) 439-4960

bherman@norimediagroup.com

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