I’ve been thinking a lot about what it really means to be generous. But the part I keep getting stuck on is what does it mean to be extravagantly generous.
By worldly standards, the size of the gift is what makes it over the top or impressive. But lately I’ve been wondering if maybe it isn’t the size of the gift but the proportion in relation to the resources and heart of the giver that makes it extravagant.
When a multi-millionaire like Bill Gates gives, it certainly looks impressive. I’m not trying to minimize that gift, I’m sure the money he donates on a yearly basis goes a long way towards many important causes. But like many with large resources, his giving comes from his excess.
What does it look like when we give things that cost us much and yet, we give without first doing the math? Click To TweetIs that perhaps a better picture of extravagance.
Twenty years ago our church was buying and renovating a building. (The renovation was extensive since the building was serving as a grocery story, bowling alley and daycare center at the time). A church we had a relationship with in Haiti sent us money for our building project. It wasn’t a large amount of money in American terms, but it was huge for a church where many of the congregants are unemployed and most be considered in poverty by our standards. It was an extravagant gift, not because it was financially significant to us, but because it was to them.
What would happen if we stopped counting the cost of our generosity and just gave when we saw the need? Click To TweetPart of me, the more practical part, thinks this is madness. How can we give without knowing how much we can afford to give, won’t that just lead to poverty and chaos?
I forget that God’s economy does not work like the world’s. I’m not advocating unwise financial choices, and yet, I have seen God’s provision in my life in very real, material ways. I think sometimes we allow our generosity to become so calculated that we lose the faith aspect of the experience.
I can give extravagantly not because I have so much excess but because of my assurance that God will supply my needs. This doesn’t mean that I will never experience financial or material difficulty, but that I believe in God’s continually peace and provision during those seasons.
I also believe that as we are willing to extend ourselves beyond that which feels easy and comfortable in our giving, God will pour back into us in ways we cannot imagine. It may or may not be in the same currency, but I firmly believe God honors our genuine acts of faith.
I aspire to hold what I have more loosely, so I can let go more freely.
Next – Simple Generosity: Little Things Matter Too
Beautiful! And oh so true!