Seeking to Be More Generous

 "The car in front of me paid for my bill at the drive through!" Grant announced, filled with awe and confusion the other day as he came in the house after running a few errands...which included a drive-through run, of course!  "I guess she thought I looked poor..."  He added...immediately followed by Dylan saying:  "Yes, that's because you look like a homeless person with that beard," major eye-roll by me...sigh..."It's none of that, you guys..." I commented, "it's Christmas, and people want to try to be a little bit more generous this season...remember?  The season of G I V I N G!?  Haven't all those Hallmark movies taught you anything?"

I guess I was talking to myself.  I'm the queen of Hallmark-Christmas-movie watching in this household...sigh...and yes, many of those flicks, through complications and relationship hardship, try to teach a lesson of giving and generosity around the Christmas season.  But, like our Pastor said last Sunday, many of those movies, if not all, miss the mark.  Generosity is not something that should be inspired by "the magic of Christmas."  Generosity is one of the marks of the Christian.  

Jesus Himself encourages us to give generously,

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38

And to give sacrificially,

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21: 1-4

And, not just during the Christmas season, but always.  We are to be there for one another and be generous as we give of ourselves to those in need whenever they need us, and in whatever measure we are able to give, for the invitation is to

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6: 2

Christmas is just a time to refocus and re-examine ourselves as we remember the greatest gift of all, Jesus Himself, who gave up the comforts of Heaven to come down here to not only carry our burdens, but to die for us so we could have eternal life!

This is why this Christmas season I want to seek ways to abide by the rule of generosity.  I seek to be aware of those who need something I might be able to provide.  And I seek that the Holy Spirit will help me take the steps towards true generosity as I give of myself to those around me.

Both boys walked away silently.  Who knows what they were thinking?  Who knows if the idea of generosity stuck in their minds?  Who knows if the thought of giving as the mark of a Christian, and as an act of obedience and love is something they are absorbing in the midst of the selfishness-driven society in which we live? But I pray that this Christmas season we begin to pay more attention, to seek opportunities and to act upon ways to become more generous with everything we've got: time, health, intellect, voice, material resources, love... so we can do our part in bearing one another's burdens and be more Christ-like.  In the Precious Name of Our Greatest Gift, Jesus the Savior and Lover of Our Souls.  Amen!