Generosity is Good For You!

In this season of Giving, may you discover that Generosity is Good for You!

Generous people discover something about giving that selfish people will never understand.

What is it you may ask?

Generous people discover 7 reasons why generosity is good for you:

1) It guarantees that your priorities are served.

Think about it – you can’t always spend your time on your priorities, but your gifts can see to it that the work you deeply believe in goes on.

2) It breaks the hold of selfishness.

In every one of us there are two competing instincts – selfishness and generosity. We must make a conscious decision to be generous, else the numerous messages we receive both from advertising and from within ourselves cause us to look increasingly to “keeping” to make us happy.

3) It enables you to be a part of something great.

It is a bad and scary world out there; sometimes we feel absolutely overwhelmed, that there is nothing we can do. But giving to your church/community of faith makes you a shareholder – a shareholder in the work of the Kingdom of God.

4) It gives you a disciplined life.

We all admire athletes and others who work hard to be disciplined. Even more, we like ourselves when we are disciplined. To make a weekly pledge to the work of God through our local church sees to it that giving is not based on a whim or a feeling, but is the result of a deeply held principle that is practiced faithfully.

5) It multiplies your usefulness.

Through your gift you are working with a troubled teenager, leading in divorce recovery, visiting hospitals, providing free counseling. You are in many places at once, enabling lives to be changed in the name of Jesus Christ.

6) It brings a satisfaction of knowing you are faithful.

There is a great peace when one can say, “I am meeting my responsibilities, I am doing what God asks of me.”

7) It enables you to leave a legacy.

A wise man once said, “None of us can complete our work in a lifetime.” Through our gifts we enable work that will outlive us, influencing young lives who will carry on the work of hope and healing after we are gone.

Jesus put it this way in Luke 6:38, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

If you choose to be a generous person and invest in things that will have a lasting impact on others for good, then you will discover that generosity is good for you too! There are so many great churches and area ministries to support. Look for those opportunities during this season of giving!

Remember, you have been blessed to be a blessing! Live a generous life and experience these 7 principles for yourself.

Blessings,

Dr. Lester Spencer

Lead Pastor

Saint James Church