Generosity isn’t always warm fuzzies and happy outcomes. Sometimes we do what we feel is right and get burned. We give money to a cause that ends up being mismanaged or we devote time to a person who betrays us.
Apparent lack of gratitude has a way of wearing us down in a slow painful way that can so easily lead to discouragement and even bitterness.
My husband has been out of work for almost two months so I’m going to be real here, sometimes I don’t want to be generous anymore. When you feel like you’ve doe what’s right there can be a sense of entitlement that grows inside. I’ve always been faithful to give to others, where’s my payback now that we are struggling? Except that’s not how it works.
Our generosity is not some kind of cosmic vending machine where we give to the right causes and make meals for friends in crisis and get back out that treat we want.
Generosity must always be a one way street or it becomes a poorly veiled business transaction. Click To TweetFor me, generosity is part of the mandate of my faith. My faith is based on believing that God loves me and that he is good, not that he will always give me good things or that life will always go well for me.
I have to remind myself of that fact almost daily. I was not promised trouble free living when I said I would follow after Jesus. When that little girl at four or five years old, decided that there was no other way to live and I confirmed it again and again with the choices I’ve made, I was saying I would do what was right because I have been blessed, not with material wealth but with God’s love. His love that never fades despite the condition of my bank account or the employment status of my household.
Because Satan wants us to be ineffective and the best way to do that is to wear us down with discouragement and disillusionment. He is searching for anyway into our hearts and generosity fatigue is one of them.
I’m not saying that we should continue to give without limits and thought. But I am saying that we shouldn’t stop giving of ourselves because we’ve grown weary.
Find a small way to give this week, even if you feel tired and tapped out. I believe that as we find a way to break through the fog and reach towards others, we will find ourselves strengthened anew.
Next – Looking and Listening: Discerning Who Needs Our Generosity
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