A Life of Generosity

2 Corinthians 9:6

Generosity is long remembered. So is stingy selfishness! Scrooge, the main character in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, has become the epitome of stingy selfishness, of a man so concerned with himself he ignores the needs of all those around him, including his family, his employees, and his neighbors. But after his dramatic encounter with the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, he becomes so generous that “it was always said to him that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.” Like Scrooge, we would do well to consider generosity in light of our past, present, and future. God is generous with His children and giving us far more than we need and treating us far better than we deserve. His generosity is best expressed in His most generous gift, His own Son, Jesus. It’s impossible to imagine a more generous gift to any less deserving. Today’s verse reminds us that both stingy selfishness and joyous generosity have consequences in the future. A large measure of our future joy, in this world, and the next, depends on generosity today.