One of the key purposes for our adoption is to demonstrate our thankfulness to our Heavenly Father by being generous to others. This is a learned attitude, for everything inside of us wants to cling to what we have. Instead, our Father’s plan is that we become generous with those around us.

Generosity is rooted in gratitude

The primary incentive to be generous is in realizing how much we have already been given. When we were adopted by our Heavenly Father, He gave us everything pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). One of the reasons that we may struggle with generosity is that we take for granted what we have already been given. His generosity toward us was not deserved, but once we realize how much we have received, we are motivated to share that with others.

One area where this is particularly pertinent is forgiveness. We are taught to forgive others to the same extent that we have already been forgiven by God (Matthew 18:21-35). It may be hard to forgive others, but we should recognize that we have been forgiven much as a result of our adoption. Our Heavenly Father wants us to generously shower His forgiveness on others.

Generosity to our adoptive father based on trust

Another challenge in being generous is that giving away our own resources makes us more dependent on God for His provision for our needs. We have to depend on Him to provide both for ourselves and for those with whom we are to be generous.

This walk of trust can become more difficult as we grow older. We recognize that fewer resources are coming in, and the tendency is to hoard what we get. When we realize that all we have is what we have been given by our adoptive Father, we begin to recognize that none of it is to be grasped by us in our own hands. While Jesus was God and therefore held the world in His hands, He opened his hands and gave up all that He had when His hands were nailed to the cross. He taught us to trust our Heavenly Father to provide for all our needs.

Generosity to our brothers and sisters

We might be tempted to think of sharing with others as simply sharing the gospel, but John makes it clear that we are to share our material possessions as well (1 John 3:16-18). We should be generous with those who are in the church, as well as sharing needs with those in ministry. Being generous to those who are of the faith is one of the ways that we will be judged in the future (Matthew 25:35-40).

We are also called to share with our own families (1 Timothy 5:6). We were placed in our families through God’s sovereignty, and that the family is the primary social unit that our Heavenly Father has given for our provision. This not only includes those who are a part of our birth family, but also to those who have become our brothers and sisters in the faith. We should recognize their needs and ask God to help us give.

So here is an acronym to help you start GIVING:

G: Giving

I: Invests

V: Value

IN: In

G: Gratitude

In this month when we make time to give thanks for how God has provided for us, how do you think we should be generous? Has anyone ever shown unexpected generosity to you? How did you feel?