Generosity...but HOW?

Jason Curry | July 8, 2021

Today…I am grateful. Today…I am amazed. Today…I am a little sleepy. That last one doesn’t have anything to do with the first two but it’s just where I am right now and I thought you should know.

I started this blog as a way for people to connect and not feel so isolated and alone. Some of the people who write for this blog think completely differently from me. With others, we’re like peas in a pod. BUT, each time I read the blog, regardless of who has written that day, I feel that God has something to say to me directly. It’s so cool how He works. And it’s also incredible to know that you and I (whoever you are, wherever you are) can read the same thing, and get something totally different out of it. Amazing, isn’t it?

I thought that a few people would read it, my wife, my three best friends (Bunky, Bestie, and Schoon—by now I’ve completely forgotten their actual first names, so don’t ask) both my moms (bio and in-law)…but I never DREAMED that four months in I’d be looking at Google Analytics and seeing that we’ve hit the 1000 views mark. ONE. THOUSAND. VIEWS. Wow. The only thing since March that has gotten more attention on our website is our actual homepage. I’m blown away that you all are reading this, and that you are coming back to read some more, and telling your friends about it. It means the world! I always dreamed back in the day that my MySpace page would get up to 1k viewers, but it never did. Maybe it was just a dream deferred? God DOES work in mysterious ways…

All that to say, THANK YOU. So much.

We are keeping the Blog Party rolling with our July theme: GENEROSITY. Do you consider yourself a generous person? Can you think of someone in your life that you would classify as generous? What does that person look like? Financially, are they well-off or barely scraping by? Do most people know of their generosity, or do they keep that information to themselves? HOW are they generous? With their finances? With their time? With their God-given gifts?

I always thought that to be generous you had to have an excess of something to give away. The older I get, the more I realize that true generosity isn’t about giving away your extra but about making the decision to give from your heart, and that doesn’t ever really take into account how much you have. Just that you’re willing to give what you DO have.

I have also discovered something that I didn’t expect to come through as clearly as it did: Generosity is difficult. It’s tough to give sometimes. And even though we know intrinsically that all we have is God’s anyway, it seems a lot of the time like, “Well it may be God’s ultimately, but it’s mine now and I don’t wanna share!” For all of you humble enough to identify with that last statement, you are my forever people and I thank you for joining me here today.

I’ve been in church for about 30 years and I don’t ever think I’ve heard anyone talk about how hard it is to be generous. I remember talking with Pastor Jon over coffee a couple of years ago and I said, I would LOVE for us to talk about generosity and giving and tithing and for a testimony from a church friend to go like this:

We decided to start tithing this year, and it kinda sucked for a while; a lot longer than I thought it would. It was really tough. At times, we wished we would have made a different choice. But we’re still doing it, as an act of obedience, and God is teaching us something profound through this struggle.

RIGHT??? That speaks to me. That testimony has the power to soften my selfish and sinful soul.

So often, I hear this:

We decided to start tithing this year and checks just started showing up in our mailbox! I got a huge raise at work! God is so good! We have more now than we ever thought we would!

Listen…I know for some of you reading this, that’s your story. And it’s an awesome one. I’m not trying to attack you. I’m just trying to speak up for the other side!

My ultimate questions are these:

How does God show up for us when things are tough and when things are a bit easier? How do we develop the patience to allow God to work in us through the process of developing our generosity?

So much about us is finite. We have a finite time here on this earth, with finite hours in the day and finite dollars in our bank account. How do we give more than we think we can or more than seems comfortable or makes sense at the time, and let our faith and His goodness bridge the gap for us?

All of our verses this month come from 2 Corinthians 8 & 9. A lot of the popular verses referencing giving can be found here, but I've always just read them as stand-alones. Those verses IN CONTEXT create such a rich awakening of God's intent for giving and what He's longing to do in us and through us. Let’s start this month off by reading these chapters, in total, together!



And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

Thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man.

In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ. Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it.

There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the Lord’s people. For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action. But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready, as I said you would be. For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to say anything about you—would be ashamed of having been so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given.

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:

“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;

their righteousness endures forever.”

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!



So, without further ado, let’s dive right into this! Tell your friends and share our posts on Instagram and Facebook with your friends. This will be a dynamic month, I’m sure of it. For starters, I think I’ll drop a bonus blog post tomorrow morning… Stay tuned!