The Invisible WarSample

Faithful People Are Generous

Faithful people are generous when they don’t have anything to give. Anybody can be generous when they have a surplus. I can be generous with my time when I’ve got a lot of extra time. I can be generous with my money when I’ve got a lot of extra money. I can be generous with my energy when I’ve got extra energy to spend. It’s when I don’t have enough time for me, I don’t have enough energy for me, I don’t have enough money for me, I don’t have enough talent for me that God says, “This is a test. I’m watching you to see if you are faithful. Will you be faithful, and will you trust me?”

Here are five principles in which God will test you and then bless you:

1. God gives to generous people.
Why does God want me to be generous? Because he wants me to be like him.

2. Obeying God’s vision will bring God’s provision.
If you do what God tells you to do, God will bring along the resources you need at the right time. What he’s given you the vision for he will give you the provision for.

3. When I do all that God tells me to do, he does what I can’t do.
God often asks you to do the impossible to stretch your faith. When you give what little you have, God multiples it and makes up for it.

4. When I have a need, I sow a seed.
Whatever you need in your life, sow that as a seed, and it will come back to you.

5. There’s always a delay between sowing and reaping.
There is a season between planting and harvesting. What’s going on in the time delay? It’s a test of your faith.

Will you be faithful to give when you have little? Will you keep on doing the right thing? Will you do what God wants you to do, no matter the cost, and then see what God does?


This devotional © 2014 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.