"She stretches out her hand to the poor; yea, she reaches forth her hands to the needy." - v. 20
A godly woman is generous.
Webster's Dictionary - Generous: characterized by a noble or kindly spirit; liberal in giving.
I think it important to set the stage here by saying that generosity does not only speak of giving away money or possessions. Just as we talked about with being economical, our resources can be so many different things, and we should be generous with all our resources; generous with our time, our money, our patience and kindness and love and spiritual gifts and anything that we can give to others.
1. Deuteronomy 5:7, 11 - open your hand and heart to the poor and needy
2. Psalm 112:9 - a good man disperses his wealth
3. Proverbs 3:27-28 - if you have the ability to help someone, do not put it off
4. Proverbs 11:25 - the liberal soul will be made fat
5. Proverbs 13:7 - even if you are made poor because of your generosity, you will still have great riches
6. Proverbs 14:21, 31 - if you honor God, you will have mercy on the poor, and be happy
7. Proverbs 21:26 - the righteous give without sparing
8. Proverbs 22:9 - those who are bountiful will be blessed
9. Proverbs 25:21-22 - we should be generous even to our enemies, as a witness to them
10. Proverbs 28:7 - those who give to the poor will not lack
11. Isaiah 58:1-12 - our "righteous" and religious acts avail us nothing if we are not actively showing the love of God through generosity
12. Matthew 5:42 - give to those who ask you
13. Matthew 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22 - Jesus tells us to sell what we have and give to the poor, because we ought not love our possessions more than Christ
14. Luke 3:11 - if you have excess, give to those who don't
15. Luke 6:38 - the generosity that we show to others is the generosity that will be shown to us
16. Luke 12:33-34 - give generously, and you make your treasure in heaven
17. Acts 20:35 - it is better to give than to receive
18. Romans 12:8 - give liberally, not asking glory for yourself
19. Romans 12:13 - distribute to the needs of fellow believers; be hospitable
20. 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 - we should help others in their time of need because of the grace God has shown us
21. 2 Corinthians 9:6-10 - those who sow bountifully will reap bountifully; give cheerfully and trust that God will supply your needs
22. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 - those who are rich should be ready to distribute, and gain eternal riches
23. James 2:15-16 - good words don't profit if you don't act out your generosity
24. 1 John 3:17-18 - do not just say you love God and others, act your love through generosity
I honestly got so much more out of this study than I expected. I expected most of the verses in Proverbs, and the ones in the Gospels, that talk about being liberal and bountiful and giving to the poor. Not that I intend to minimize the importance of those verses, but simply that they're very straight forward. It is better to give than to receive; there are more valuable riches in Heaven, so we should be willing to give away our earthly riches in order to gain the prize that Christ gives to us. If we have the ability to help someone, we shouldn't put it off, and we should be generous to our enemies, as a display of Christ's love to them. We should give humbly and simply, not looking to glorify ourselves or get something in return.
There were a few sections that really stood out to me, though. The first was Isaiah 58:1-12, corroborated by James 2:15-16 and 1 John 3:17-18. The passage in Isaiah is God speaking to the Israelites. They were praying, and seeking God, and fasting, and doing all the "right, Christian" things, and yet they were angry because God would not hear their prayer. God says "Is this all I asked of you, to fast and pray and cover yourself in sackcloth and ashes? The fast that I want from you is to break away from sin, to free the enslaved, to give your food to the hungry, bring the homeless into your home, and care for your fellow men. If you do those things, then the Lord will guide you, satisfy you, make you strong, and you will be the foundation for many future generations." I believe the point in these three passages is that God wants more from us than to simply say we love Him, or know the truth, or go through the religious motions. He calls us to actively display His love and the truth of His words through our generosity to others.
Secondly, the verses in 2 Corinthians 8. Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to be generous in their help of other believers who are in need, using the Macedonians as a good example of giving despite having little to give. Paul reminds them that if they want to give, they should not dwell on the fact that they have very little, but instead think about what they do have to give, and that we give to others because of how much God gave for us. I believe that the church was meant to be a community that supports each other through generosity; as Paul says, not that some are burdened and others get it easy, but that when one person has needs, other people can supply them, and when those people have a need, someone else will step up to supply it. As it says in Romans 12:13, we are to distribute to the needs of the saints and be given to hospitality. I also like how Paul refers to the grace of God many times; Webster's Dictionary states that grace is unmerited help and favor. Even the fact that we have means to give to others is a testament to the grace that God has given to us.
This flows right into the next chapter of 2 Corinthians, in which Paul continues to talk about giving generously, and that we should do it cheerfully, not with a bad attitude or because we have to. Specifically, verses 8 and 10 stand out to me. God is able to bountifully give you His unmerited help and favor so that, your needs being supplied, you may be bountiful to others in good works. Now, may Jesus Christ supply your needs, multiply the good works you plant in others, and increase the blessing, reward, and fruit that comes out of those good works. Every time I read those verses my heart starts pounding, because it is such a strong picture to me, and resonates so loudly.
This is how generosity works: Christ was more than generous to us, in that He gave His LIFE for us. Every single day, He is willing to give us Himself to fill us up, if we would only receive it. Once we are full of Him, we can pour out generously to others, in order to fill them with the very same grace that Christ filled us with.
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