Lord Loves a Generous Giver
2 Corinthians 9:7
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.
Lord’s Generosity
2 Corinthians 9:10
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.
James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Luke 11:13
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
Isaiah 40:29
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Ephesians 3:20 -21
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
How should we be Generous?
Luke 6:30
Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
2 Corinthians 8:12
For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
Matthew 5:41-42
And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
Giving to those in need
Leviticus 25:35–37
“If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger, and he shall live with you.
Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your brother may live beside you. You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.”
- God commanded the Israelites to be generous and merciful to each other
- A brother’s need was not to be capitalized on for personal gain.
- If money was loaned to a fellow Israelite, interest was not to be charged
- Because the Israelites were delivered from Egypt & received God’s generosity, they were to show impartial generosity to each other
Giving Sufficiently & Maintaining Generous Ears
Deuteronomy 15:7–8
If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.
Proverbs 21:13
“Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.”
- Do not shut your ears/hands or harden your hearts to the cry of the poor
- Lend him sufficiently for his need
- Lord Jesus said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
The Generous will Prosper
Proverbs 11:25
A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Psalm 112:5
Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.
Proverbs 22:9
“Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.”
Proverbs 19:17
“Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”
Matthew 10:42 God keeps track of our giving
“And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
God’s Promise to the Generous
Psalms 41:1-3
“Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.”
God responds to the kindness and generosity of his people with protection, health, and abundance.
Biblical examples of Generous People
- Generous people often give more than they are asked to give
In Exodus 36:1-7 we see God’s people bringing more than enough to meet the need — to the point that Moses must tell them to stop!
- Generous people give in response to a great cause
In 2 Corinthians 8-9, we see the Corinthian church giving faithfully to help a community of people whom they have never met!
- Generous people give out of their substance & poverty, whether large/small -Jesus’ enthusiasm about generosity
In Luke 21:1-4 Jesus compares the widow’s mite to the rich man’s gifts — demonstrating that the gifts of all are needed and used in God’s economy
- True generosity doesn’t come from our excess; it comes from sacrificial hearts
- The beauty of this passage is in Jesus’ enthusiasm to point out this woman’s magnanimity out to the disciples
- To think that God gets this excited when we’re open-handed is pretty inspiring
- Generous people give more than just their money
In Luke 10:25-37 Jesus tells the classic story of the Good Samaritan — one who gave time, resources, and skill to meet the need of a man who had been left for dead at the side of the road
The Samaritan makes himself vulnerable and available — the very definition of hospitality.
- Generous people give even when it doesn’t make sense
In Genesis 45 Joseph responding graciously and generously to his family, even when logic would tell him not to
- Generous people give to help others, even when they differ from one another
We see it in Luke 7:1-10 as a Gentile builds a Jewish synagogue! Who could have predicted such a donor for such a cause?
- Generous people give to see the impossible become possible
A little boy offered Jesus his meager lunch in Matthew 14:14-21
He only had a few loaves and fishes, and Jesus had 5,000 mouths to feed But gifts in God’s hands can be & often are divinely multiplied to meet the demands of greater works
- Generous people give as a byproduct of their own personal transformation
The story of Zacchaeus, in Luke 19 is the story of a transformed giver- a tax collector moved by Jesus’ call to come back to God’s ways transforms from “collector of money” to “giver of money”!
- Generous people give when others will not
In Philippians 4:15-16 the apostle Paul laments the lack of response from the churches he’s encountered.
Even when he was ministering to others, far away, in Thessalonica, the Philippians were giving to his ministry!
Eagle Vision School of Prophets International 