Today I thought about living a more generous life. It’s a beautiful way to live. It’s the best way to live. It’s profoundly biblical.
Yet I find myself more protective than ever of my time, my comforts, and my possessions during COVID. I’d rather spend the day with my own cozy schedule than give of myself because it seems like work. But what if it’s not work, and I’m thinking about generosity all wrong?
What if living a generous life is actually the pathway to more energy, more purpose, and more abundance? We know this. We know this from Jesus’ words that “it is more blessed to give than receive” (Acts 20:35) and the prophet Isaiah who tells us the blessing of “spending ourselves” on behalf of others (Isaiah 58).
So I start to look for ways to live a more generous life. It’s exciting to ask the Lord how to “spend myself” today on behalf of others. The answers come quickly: a struggling writer wanting a personal phone call; a daughter needing something for college from my wardrobe; two friends seeking fellowship today; other writers asking for feedback; and a husband needing early morning help shoveling snow. And it’s not even lunchtime! How great it feels to take my eyes off of myself and my own comfort today.