It’s official—the holidays are around the corner. How do I know? Relatives are asking for Christmas lists so they can get their shopping done and the commercials on TV are rolling out their latest toy temptations to get my children drooling.
It’s so easy to lose perspective in all the hustle and bustle. That’s why I’m excited to focus on Generosity this December—so kids (and adults like me) can be reminded about what we should get all wrapped up in this year! (This is the same fitting theme from several years ago, but the content itself—scripts and activities—are all fresh and new.)
In fact, James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.” So, we know that God is the giver of all good things. But we also know that God’s generosity has a purpose.
In Week 1, we listened as Jesus tells the parable of a rich man in Luke 12:13-21. He gets wrapped up in storing more and more stuff and ends up losing everything that really matters. Bottom Line: People are always more important than stuff.
The brother did what we all have a tendency to do—to focus on what God can do for us, instead of thinking about ways we’ve already been blessed or how we can bless others. That’s why our monthly memory verse says, “Be rich in good deeds . . . be generous and willing to share.” (1 Timothy 6:18, NIV).
When we realize that it’s really a lie that stuff makes our lives better, then it’s easier for us to be generous. We define generosity as making someone’s day by giving something away. We can’t really live generously unless we believe this Basic Truth: I should treat others the way I want to be treated.
In Week 2, we learned that you can’t take it with you! A rich young ruler has a big question in our Luke 18:18-25. It’s interesting because Jesus really wasn't after the guy’s stuff; He was after his heart. Jesus knew that this guy was trapped and He wanted to set the guy free. Bottom Line: Don’t let stuff get in the way of loving Jesus. Living generously shows the people around us what we love and trust in most.
In Week 3, we read two different accounts in John 3:16-17 and Luke 2:1-18 about the Greatest Gift Exchange ever—when Jesus is born. God is the ultimate example of generosity. We give because God’s given to us. God’s original gift is our motivation for giving freely to others. Bottom Line: God gave the greatest gift when He gave us Jesus.
In one of the busiest times of year it’s important to take time to remember who gave first. We can stop and remember how amazing it is that God sent His Son to show us a new way to live and later make it possible for us to live with Him forever if we just believe.
God gives generously to us so that we may be generous toward others. The Bible says, “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” (2 Corinthians 9:11, NIV)
In other words, God gives generously to us so we will have time, emotional energy, patience, and a wealth of resources to give to others. Then, when we are generous with all we have been given, others will see us and be thankful to God.
So many times we think that our ability to be generous is connected to our riches. We are afraid to give because we don’t know if we have enough, and we think generosity is for those who have more than we do to give. But the cool thing about generosity is that we’re not generous because we are rich, we are rich because we are generous. When we choose to give generously to others, we are blessed with everything that really matters in life!
By: Cara Martens. ©2011 Orange. All rights reserved. www.WhatIsOrange.org * All rights reserved. Used by permission.