Generous Guidelines

“As it is written, ‘Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.’”  2 Corinthians 8:15

The Lord is not a fan of hoarding wealth or abundance for selfish reasons.  A story is laid out to illustrate this fact.  “Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’  But he said to him, ‘Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?’  And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’  And he told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?”  And he said, “I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”  But God said to him, “Fool!  This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”  So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.’"  Luke 12:13-21  Generosity is an attitude that God wants us to hone.  “…see that you excel in this act of grace also.”  2 Cor. 8:7C  (Look at the previous three verses to see Paul is talking about generosity.)  Paul also gives us guidelines as to how generous we should be.  “For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.”  2 Cor. 8:13-14  We shouldn’t go into debt, bankruptcy, or put our selves/families through the ringer to give.  Prudence should mark our contributions.  Fear, greed, and covetousness can lead us to hoard for our selves.  There is nothing at all wrong with an emergency fund, but to stockpile massive amounts of wealth to make life easy when you are old takes God out of the equation.  It is like you don’t trust Him to provide later in life.  He will; just trust!

kenny