Think Ahead: 7 Decisions You Can Make Today for the God-Honoring Life You Want TomorrowSýnishorn

I Will Be Generous

We’re conditioned to believe our lives will be incomplete until we acquire and accumulate more.

Our culture tells us it is more blessed to get. But Jesus offers a very counter-cultural message. He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

So, if we want to honor God and be a blessing to others, we need to be generous people. But no one accidentally stumbles onto a life of radical generosity. Instead, we will pre-decide: I will be generous. Because generous people plan to be generous.

You might say, “But I thought generosity was randomly blessing people. You know: See a need, meet a need.”

Isn’t that generosity? No. That is not generosity; that’s giving.

To be clear, giving is good. Giving honors God. Giving meets needs. Giving blesses people. Yes, you want to give. But giving is not the same as generosity.

Generous people don’t have to see a need. They don’t have to be inspired or guilted. They’re not reactive. They don’t give only when they have something extra.

What do generous people do? Generous people have a plan.

Scripture tells us, “But generous people plan to do what is generous, and they stand firm in their generosity” (Isaiah 32:8 NLT).

How do we plan to be generous? How do we stand firm in our generosity?

For me, it starts with the tithe. The Hebrew word translated “tithe” is maser. It means a tenth, or 10 percent. We are honored to return to God 10 percent of what God blesses us with as a way of putting Him first in our finances—as an act of worship and obedience.

You might be thinking, Whoa. Give 10 percent of all the money I bring in? There’s no way I could live off 90 percent. I can barely make it with 100 percent!

I think God could foresee how we’d react and our objections, because this is the only time in Scripture He tells us we can put Him to the test (Malachi 3:10). God promises He will provide for us if we put Him first.

Then, as we give offerings above the tithe, we always round up. Jesus taught this principle in Matthew 5:41, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.”

Don’t just give what’s expected. Give more. Do more. Round up.

• The next time you’re figuring out how much to tip, bless your server by rounding up.
• If you borrow someone’s car, return it freshly cleaned, with a full tank of gas.
• If you’re giving an offering to your favorite ministry, consider giving a bit more.

As followers of Jesus, we don’t just give spontaneously, randomly, or emotionally. We give intentionally, strategically, and driven by a desire to honor God and live the kind of life He blesses.

You may think, well, I’ll give more when I have more. But remember: More money won’t make you more generous. It’ll just make you more of what you already are. If you’re not generous now, you won’t be generous later.

So, pre-decide to put God first. Then prayerfully create a generosity plan. Ask God these four questions:

• “How can I give more?”
• “Where can I make a bigger difference?”
• “Whom can I bless?”
• “How do I maximize what you have given me?”

We won’t just give spontaneously; we’ll give strategically. We will pre-decide: I will be generous.

We will put God first and we’ll always round up. When we do, we’ll be more blessed. We’ll better represent our God. We’ll make a bigger impact and leave a better legacy.