Generosity Starts with Him
Written By Bethany Miller, RAHAB’s Director of Development
Generosity doesn’t start with us. Too often we think we need more money in the bank account, more time, more energy, more of… something… and then we can give. Then we can be generous. But generosity doesn’t need anything that we can muster up on our own or achieve by doing more, earning more, or being more.
As I have reflected on the nativity story this Christmas, I have been struck by the many examples of generosity, and perhaps more than that, the one thing they all share.
The first, and most important example of generosity is the nativity story itself. It is the utmost display God’s generosity to us, and it sets the tone for all the rest. He gifted us, His sons and daughters, His one and only Son. He generously gave us Jesus even though He knew that He would later have to watch His Son be rejected, tortured, brutalized and killed. And yet, He sacrificially gave us the gift of His son, full of love, so that those who believe in Him, would find true hope. Our blogs in this Christmas series have already examined the love that Christ demonstrated, the power of believing in His promises, and the living hope he offers. When we have all this, God calls us to be generous. But it’s not one more thing we need to do to seek approval, far from it. In the Christmas story, we see several people who show us deep and meaningful generosity, and exactly where it came from.
Elizabeth demonstrated generosity of kindness when she first greeted Mary. Mary was an unwed pregnant teenager facing a daunting future of raising the Messiah who had just traveled an incredible distance on foot. And Elizabeth greeted her with love and kindness and a blessing upon her and the child in her womb – I imagine these kind words felt like a generous gift to Mary. Immediately before this greeting, scripture tells us that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:41). First, she was filled with the Holy Spirit, and it was through His power, that she offered this generous outpouring of love. These kind words weren’t conjured up of her own power, or dished out because Mary had done something to earn them, they were an outpouring of the Holy Spirit within her – full of love, full of hope, and full of belief that God would indeed bless Mary.
Joseph also demonstrates great generosity toward Mary. He learns that his fiancé is pregnant, and not by him. Even when he planned to divorce her, scripture tells us that he was going to do so quietly so as not to disgrace her (Matthew 1:18) – that in itself was generous given the rights that law afforded him in such a circumstance. But after being visited by an angel, and told that Mary was carrying the Messiah, Joesph “did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary as his wife.” He put aside his own rights, his own pride, perhaps a threat of disgrace for taking on a wife who is pregnant. This sacrificial generosity came from his devout obedience to God. By saying yes to God’s command, Jospeh was able to show Mary love, to believe in God’s plan, and to hope in their future child.
After Jesus is born, the wise men give expensive gifts when they come to visit Jesus, which on the surface feels like the most obvious example of generosity, but I believe there is so much more to it. These Magi would have studied scripture and known the prophecies, and therefore go looking for the king of the Jews after they saw “His star” (Matthew 2:2) – their journey to find Christ started with their belief in God. And when they finally found Him, “they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gift of gold, frankincense and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11, emphasis is my own). They worshipped first, before giving the gifts they are so widely known for. They knew they were looking at the most generous gift, God’s son, and their first response was to worship Him. They worshiped God, giving him first their love, their belief in what He had just done, and their hope in what it meant – and from that posture, they were able to give generous earthly gifts as well.
God has provided us with the ultimate example of generosity. His people in scripture show us not just generous acts, but how to be generous. And it starts with hearts and minds tuned to Him. When we sit with Him, read His scripture, offer praise and worship for what He has done in our own lives, then generosity will be a natural outflowing from our lives. Not just in financial giving, but in words of loving kindness. In acts of forgiveness. In how we spend our time.
At RAHAB, I have the immense and humbling privilege of regularly seeing generosity on full display. I have personally witnessed the generous love, compassion, and care that Outreach volunteers have shown to the women working in the strip clubs. But those volunteers were crammed into a car in the parking lot praying fervently before they ever stepped foot in the club. I have seen our Drop-In Home staff welcome women through the doors, offering clothing, food, supplies, but more beautifully, being generous with their hugs, their kind words, their encouragement. I also know that these staff members come before God every day to pray over the Drop-In Homes, to pray for these women, and to pray for the Lord’s provision and guidance. Survivors who generously share their stories with others as an act of encouragement, and in doing so, express unending praise to the Lord for the love He has shown them and the redemption they have personally experienced. Just recently, I welcomed a donor who came by the RAHAB office to drop off a yearend gift. We took the opportunity to sit and chat about what’s been happening at the ministry, and before leaving this donor asked to pray with me. While the financial contribution was generous and critical to the work of RAHAB, the prayers that were offered deeply moved my heart and felt like the real outpouring of generosity.
If you’d like to experience more generosity in the coming year, start by spending time with God. Ask Him to fill you with the Holy Spirit, and then ask Him what He is asking you to say yes to. I am certain that He will give you opportunities to be generous with your words, your love, your forgiveness, your time, and even your treasure. But I am also certain that when He fills you with the Holy Spirit, giving these things away won’t feel like a loss or a burden, but will feel like joyful worship back to Him.