Have a Wonderful Life

Welcome to my first Living Generously blog post. I hope that can offer some meaningful insights, ideas, and conversation on the topics of generosity, personal finance, budgeting, giving, and the economy. I don’t claim to be an expert in any of these areas, but I know those who are. I will refer you to their websites and materials often, since there is such a vast amount of material available in many forms. I also look forward to your comments so that we can learn together how to use the resources that God has entrusted to us for His glory and the benefit of His body.
I often wonder what a church or community filled with generous people would look like. If each of <us>  should look not only to <our> own interests, but to the interests of others, what would the world be like (Philippians 2:4)? Truly generous people don’t just give money. They first of all give themselves to God, then to other people (see 2 Corinthians 8:1-5). One reason a person can be generous is that, recognizing everything actually belongs to God (Psalm 24:1), he or she doesn’t cling to possessions as though they will never receive anything else. In fact, generous people intentionally build a “margin” into their lives so that there is always something to give. They don’t have the need to spend all they have—or more than they earn as was common practice in recent years.
Jesus’ parable of the rich fool in Luke 12 has two verses that have impacted me greatly. In verse 15, Jesus warns us to, Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions. I have more than enough “stuff.” But when I measure my wealth, I don’t begin by counting my material assets. I count the true riches (Luke 16:11) of my relationship with God, with my wife, with our sons and their families, with my friends and colleagues. And then, when I look at my material resources—my home, my cars, by financial resources, the opportunities I have had in my life—I am amazed at God’s goodness. I certainly don’t deserve any of that. I am deeply grateful for God’s grace and blessings.
The second verse that hits me from this parable is how Jesus sums up the story He has just told. In verse 21, He said, This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God. God calls us, expects us, and even demands us, to be generous. He doesn’t say that we shouldn’t store up things for ourselves. But if we think it’s all for us or about us, then, we’re in big trouble. As my friend Dick Towner has said, “God doesn’t bless us to raise our standard of living, but to raise our standard of giving.”
As I close this first post, let me ask you this question: Are you rich toward God? Well, we’ll be talking more about that in the weeks to come. I hope that your answer will be “Yes!” very soon, if you can’t say that today. I am convinced that this is one of the keys to having a wonderful life!

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