Infinitum 30 Day Challenge - Week Three预览

Generosity is More Than Money

I had to fill out an application for a job opportunity that required me to fully raise my own salary. On the application, it asked me what I thought about people who are rich. I must admit that when I think about rich people I automatically think they have more to give. 

In preparation for this application I had to read a book by Henri Nouwen called A Spirituality of Fundraising. As I was reading the book I thought about loneliness and how loneliness has no discretion. Loneliness, sadness, and poverty doesn’t just affect the poor. It goes after the wealthy as well.

 Nouwen suggests that we minister to the rich from our own place of wealth. We can invite those who are rich to be in community with us. We can welcome them into our space with no strings attached, just pure togetherness. 

In Romans 12:13, Paul says, “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality” (NIV). Paul is giving us an example of how we can be generous beyond money. We can offer people radical hospitality. When Jesus is sending out his disciples he tells them not to acquire gold or silver but rather enter places and find someone who is hospitable (Matthew 10:9-11). 

Hospitality can look like all sorts of different things. Perhaps you don’t have a home to open up to people but I am sure there is something else you can offer. Maybe it’s the extra food that you have or the clothes you don’t need anymore. 

In Matthew 25:34-35, Jesus says, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in” (NIV). Let’s start practicing generosity by showing the hospitality that Jesus asks us for. 

Generosity doesn’t have to be about money. We can be generous with our time or the gifts God has given us. The list can go on.  

• Are you holding back from being generous because you look at your financial state and think you do have the means to be generous?  
• What has God given you, besides money, that you could steward well and share with others?