God instructed the Israelites, ‘If there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them. Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need (v.7-8 NLT). Generous people focus on what they can give to others, not what they can get from them. The more we respond to God’s promptings to give, the better our attitude becomes towards giving. We might think that the amount we have of something determines the amount we should share. But with God, it’s not what we have that matters; it’s what we do with what we have. And that’s determined by our attitude. It doesn’t mean we should be reckless with what we have, or give everything away so that God will be pleased with us. We need to always seek His guidance in what to give and how we can best serve others. And that’s something we can start doing today. Whether it means spending more time with family, being an encourager for someone who’s struggling, or helping people in our church or community, it’s about putting our own desires on hold for a while so we can bless someone else. The Bible says, ‘Speak out for justice! Stand up for the poor and destitute!’ (Proverbs 31:9 MSG). To stay generous, we need to trust God first of all, remembering that He’s blessed us with what we have now and will meet all our needs, then make a habit of giving up our time, attentiveness, money, and resources whenever He directs us to.

What Now?

Is there an activity that you could postpone or spend less time on today, such as watching TV, spending time on social media, or reading? Ask God to guide you to someone who needs support today, then use that time to give them some help.