Growing up, my grandma and I spent a lot of time together. One of our favorite things to do was to go on long road trips to see her extended family. We’d inevitably end up eating our meals at one of the truck stops that lined the highway. As soon as we sat down, I’d turn the placemat over looking for games to play. My favorite was the maze. The goal was to draw a path from the beginning of the maze to the center without running into a dead end.
Once, my grandmother, probably exasperated with me asking for help, showed me how to cheat the system. Just start at the end of the maze and work back toward the beginning. If you start at the beginning, there are many potential dead-ends. But if you start at the end, there is only one way to the beginning.
I am still trying to apply my grandmother’s wisdom to my life. Instead of starting at the beginning of our lives and living forward, what if we started at the end of our lives and worked backward to where we are now?
Living your life forward means running into dead ends. It’s like building a house without blueprints. You can do it, but you’re going to make costly mistakes, and the house probably isn’t going to end up like you envisioned.
So let’s take my grandma’s advice and start at the very end of your life. When you stand before Jesus, what do you want to be true of you? I think every Christian longs to hear Jesus say to them, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”
Let’s not miss who Jesus said those words to. He didn’t say them to those who spread the good news or to those who helped the least of these. Of course, Jesus commended those who did both things. But the words we long to hear at the end of our lives were spoken to his followers who wisely stewarded the resources he gave them.
Jesus didn’t bless us so we could use his blessings to make our life a little more comfortable. He blessed us so we can be a blessing to others.
I ask myself, “When I stand before Jesus, would I rather him say that I gave too much away or too little?" If I were going to err, which side would I want to err on? Is it even possible to give too much?
Here are five truths that compel me toward generosity. I hope you find them encouraging, too.
You are a steward, not an owner.
Everything you have is a gift from God. Whether it’s your health, relationships, or money, you’re called to manage God’s gifts to further his purposes in the world.
David prayed, “For everything is from you, and what we give is what we have from you” (1 Chronicles 29:14). Like David, stewards recognize that the money they give to God’s work is only a small portion of what God has given them. Contrast that to someone with an owner mindset, who believes he’s the cause of all his material blessings. He will struggle to give. And when he does, it’s almost always painful.
But when you believe that “every good and perfect gift is from above,” generosity isn’t just easier, it’s a joy (James 1:17; 2 Corinthians 9:7).
Jesus offers you a counterintuitive path to happiness: less stuff brings more blessing.
Our materialistic culture declares, “He who dies with the most toys dies happiest,” but Jesus taught, “Life doesn’t consist in an abundance of possessions” because “it’s more blessed to give than receive” (Luke 12:15; Acts 20:35). This explains why you experience far more joy when you give rather than spending on yourself. According to Jesus’s math, living on 90% is greater than living on 100%.
His followers refuse to shrink their lives by hoarding. You expand your life by giving.
John says that God loved the world so much that he gave (John 3:16). He didn’t give you wealth or health, but something far greater: himself (2 Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:5-8).
This means that in God’s economy, you spell love G-I-V-E.
Jesus was the most generous person who ever lived precisely because he was the most loving person who ever lived. Now, he’s inviting you to join him in love, by giving to others.
You’ll never regret imitating Jesus’s radical generosity.
The Bible teaches that giving trains you to trust God and become more like Jesus (2 Cor. 9:6-11; Luke 6:38). Generosity makes you more joyful and less anxious, more abundant and less proud, more blessed and less empty (Matt. 6:24-34; 1 Tim 6:7-18; Prov. 22:9). Materialism and greed lose their hold on your heart, and you become more like Jesus.
But giving doesn’t just change you. It changes others. God uses your giving to bring people to faith, heal marriages, create community, care for the hurting, mentor students in challenging years, and help children love Jesus (Deut. 15:11).
Just think about it: you’re following Jesus today because someone else gave. Now it’s your turn.
Jesus offers you the greatest investment opportunity imaginable. You can exchange earthly treasure that rots and disappears for heavenly treasure that’s eternally secure and never fades (Matt. 6:19-21).
God says that in eternity you will only keep what you give away (Luke 12:13-21; Prov. 19:17; Ps. 112:5; Matt. 10:42). If he’s right, why would you grasp what you cannot keep when you can gain what you cannot lose?
The future reward God offers to those who give far outweighs the sacrifices we make in the present. That’s why no one in heaven regrets having been radically generous with their wealth before they died when they die.
Do you feel motivated to bless others as God has blessed you? Learn how you can give generously to support what God is doing through The Crossing.