Generosity, what is it?
Does living a generous life help us live a better life? What does the bible have to say about being generous?
In 2016, the church community I am part of will be journeying in the theme of Generosity. Given that this will be part of my journey as well, I thought I would write about it. To be honest, I am not sure where this series will go or what the end result will be. My goal at the moment is to have 3-4 post a month that are part of this series.
The Word Generous
The University of Notre Dame has a group looking at the science of generosity. They share that the word ‘generous,’ up until the 16th Century, “reflects an aristocratic sense of being of noble lineage or high birth. To be generous was literally a way of saying ‘to belong to nobility.’ It was not till the 19th Century that ‘generosity’ developed from being primarily the description of an ascribed status pertaining to the elite nobility to being an achieved mark of admirable personal quality and action capable of being exercised in theory by any person who had learned virtue and noble character.”[1]
The value and virtue of Generosity has deep roots in the Bible. We see Abraham give a meal to three strangers who come near his tent in the wilderness. In showing this hospitality, Abraham has honored God and is able to hear God.
My hope is to be both practical and reflective through this series.
Here are a few of my objectives/questions to explore:
· What do Jesus and the bible say about generosity?
· If Jesus calls us to generosity, what does it look like in our life?
· What are the benefits of generous living?
· Is generosity just about money?
· How do we steward our money in order to give it away?
· What does it practically look like to live generously ?
Stay tuned as we journey together through this series, and along the way, I would love to hear from you. Do you have any good resources? What questions do you have?
Let me know below.
[1] (http://generosityresearch.nd.edu/more-about-the-initiative/what-is-generosity/)