Inside Out: A 40 Day Journey to Transforming Your HeartSample

Selfish Heart --> Generous Heart

When my son was seven years old we give him a quarter for every book he read. He saved $125 intending to get an expensive Lego set.  Christmas time came around, and I put a Compassion International magazine in front of him. I asked him what he wanted to buy with his money to bless those in need. He read that he could buy ten Bibles for $100. He said he wanted to do that.  I tried to talk him down. “Son, do you really want to spend most of your money on Bibles, and not just buy one or two? You won’t have enough for a Lego set.” (Forget the fact that I’m a missionary, and the reason I showed him the magazine was that I wanted him to give generously!) He looked at me with resolve and said, “Yes, mom. I want ten kids to have Bibles so that they can learn about Jesus.” Now, that is a generous heart with an eternal mindset. I was convicted that day that I actually could have hindered him from joyfully giving. 

2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Who am I to say what is too much to give? Especially when it comes to giving to the poor and giving toward spiritual things.

We might be hesitant to give money directly to the poor, not trusting what they will do with it. If that’s the case, we can provide non-monetary gifts like food, clothing, and even friendship. The first church in Acts saw that lives changed when they were generous. Acts 2:46-47 says, “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

I never thought I could experience this Acts passage, but I did in none-other-than Berkeley, California.  I was going on a mission trip for the summer, and my apartment would be vacant.  I knew of a homeless man named Ken, who attended our church and “lived” in the infamous “People’s Park” downtown.  One day, I felt that God wanted me to offer him my apartment for the summer, free of cost so that he can get back on his feet and get a job. (Many homeless can’t get jobs because they don’t have a permanent address.) 1 John 3:17 came to my mind, “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” That very day I offered him my apartment, and he gladly accepted it! 

That simple gift of letting him stay in my place gave him the address he needed to get a job and find his own apartment by the end of the summer. But that’s not all. He started to take what he learned on Sunday mornings at church and teach it to his friends at the park in the afternoon. He’d bring PB&J sandwiches, sit down, and preach. Many came to Christ that summer, and he started a church in the park for the homeless.  When I came back, he told me that he felt called to be a missionary in Africa! Wow! I had no clue offering my apartment (which many people thought was unwise for me to do) would bear so much spiritual fruit! 

When our hearts are generous, lives are changed, people are saved.  Are we giving generously toward eternal things? Or are we only investing and spending toward the temporal? Are we hoarding our money for things that will rust, tear, and fade away? Or are we investing in the lives of others who will spread the gospel?  James 3:14-16 says, “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.” Have you ever considered that not giving generously to those in need is not only selfish but is part of Satan’s plan to derail us from receiving God’s blessings in our lives? The Apostle Paul says in Acts 20:35, “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” 

      God might ask us to be generous with our time, talents, or treasure. A generous heart comes when we start to give. Then we trust God and give more. My husband and I have learned that we can’t out-give God. When God asks us to give, and we trust Him to do so, He blesses us all the more! Let us begin to have generous hearts by giving cheerfully and see what God will do around us! 

Take a Moment:

• Where have you been selfish with your time, talents, or treasure? 

• Where might God be nudging you to be more generous? 

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, please show me where I am selfish with my time, talents, and treasure.  “Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain” (Psalm 119:36)! Help me to become more generous and hold these things with open hands. I trust that You will bless me as I freely give to others. Amen.