Generous & Benevolent

The Lord's people, those who "walk in his Spirit," who "walk with him," are a generous and benevolent people. They "give"! They distribute to the needs of others, being liberal. They are not stingy, selfish, nor uncaring. They are, generally speaking, "Good Samaritans."


Said Jesus to his disciples:


"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." (Luke 6:38)

"But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you." (Luke 11:31)

"...freely ye have received, freely give." (Matt. 10:8)


All these statements lay it down as a divine imperative that the disciples of Christ are to be in the mindset and habit of giving. It is not something to be done only at "Christmas," but throughout the year.

There is great reason to be a giving person, if you are Christian. You have been the recipient of great gifts and blessings from the Lord. It was all given to you "freely" too, with "no strings attached"; not because you deserved it, for you did not, but because the Lord is gracious, kind, giving and forgiving.

So we are to emulate and imitate our Lord in this regard. Said Jesus further:

"He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward." (Matt. 10:41,42)

"Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again." (Luke 6:30)

We should not hesitate to lend to others who are in need. We should both give and lend, but even in our lending, we should not demand repayment from the poor. Jesus said -- "if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again." (Luke 6:34) Our giving and lending ought to be better than the lending and giving of sinners who know not the grace of God. They give from selfish motives, while the Christian gives out of love for Christ and out of love and concern for the poor and needy.

"He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again." (Proverbs 19:17)

Not only do we give, as Christians, because we have been the recipients of great gifts, from the Lord, but with an eye to pleasing the Lord and of receiving further blessing from him. It has been said many times - "you cannot out give God"! That is so true indeed! "Give and and you shall receive gift" said Jesus.

How should we give? With what kind of heart and spirit? Wrote Paul:

"Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." (II Cor.9:7)

All that we do must be done with the heart, with proper motive and reason, or else it is not pleasing to the Lord. We must be "cheerful givers" when we give (whether of time or money) and lend, if we expect the Lord to be pleased with our giving and lending.

It must be our "delight" and "joy" to so help others, the poor and needy around us. We give "cheerfully," with a sense of satisfaction that we are imitating our Lord, doing what he has bid us regularly practice. It is a giving in faith too, for it is done with the belief and conviction that the Lord sees the act, and the heart producing it, and is pleased and gives more to the giver and "liberal soul."

Christians are a people who seek, in all areas of their lives, to show "due benevolence." (I Cor. 7: 3,5) It is their mindset to be gracious to others who are less fortunate.

"The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously." (Psa. 37: 21)

"I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed." (Psa. 37:25,26)

"A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor." (Proverbs 22:9)

"He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly." (Acts 10:2)

How is your heart my friend? Are you a giving and caring person? Or is your heart hard and cold towards the poor and suffering?