Living that generous life

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:16-18 

If you’re like I have been in the past, perhaps you have thought of generosity strictly as the act of giving money to a person or organization in need. But generosity is more than giving financially. It’s an attitude of love that flows from our hearts into our actions: It comes through our hands to hug and give. It comes through our bodies to give time and talents. It flows from our mouths to grant grace, tenderness, and kind words. Like most people, I have had the humbling honor of giving in various ways over the years. But the generosity I have experienced as the result of being a part of a blended family has literally transformed me. Prior to marrying my wife, the thought of becoming a bonus Dad definitely wasn’t on my bucket list. But what I didn’t know was how God would joyfully expand my heart and capacity to love through being a part of a blended family. In ways I could have never imagined, the Lord has used my two bonus kids to teach me how to be more generous with love, talents, time, and money. “No one can have too many people loving them.” In that one sentence, God invited me to shift from being selfish and thinking about my own emotional safety, to thinking about giving generous love. He was inviting me to love them because He loves them. This statement from the Lord helped me see that although I am not the biological father, I still have an important and vital role to play.   I have learned that the ability to be generous in love and action is deeply rooted in the truth that I am not an extra family member that no one wants. I am a son of the King who is on an assignment to love generously and to let that love show in a variety of ways: through finances, talents, time, patience, and words of encouragement and wisdom.  I have honestly discovered that in all my life there has been no greater honor. Giving generously has been a huge gift to me. It has expanded me and brought me so much joy to be generous daily, and I wouldn’t change a thing. “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35).