I had the joy of speaking to Brian Dodd (https://briandoddonleadership.com/), who has inspired me to blog. During our phone call, he provided a remarkable perspective and insight. One thing he said has resonated with me, “Be generous to other people.”
Brian, at that moment, modeled his message. He gave me 30 minutes of his time for a phone call, even with the thousands of miles of distance. If you follow his blog, you will see how he raises the value of others.
Often, when we discuss generosity, we think in terms of time and money. Don’t get me wrong; I believe it’s far more blessed to give than to receive when it comes to our wallets and schedules. You can give of your time and money only to realize your relational stinginess.
Jesus teaches on generosity in relationships in Luke 17:1-10. The people of Jesus’ day developed a transactional approach to relationships. Religious leaders used their “spiritual wealth” to condemn others. You could put a number on the times to forgive a person. So the disciples in this context ask for more faith to experience these types of relationships.
Spiritual pride, like the religious leaders in Luke 17, demands extra credit from God for righteousness and holds others down in their sin. Jesus moves us to experience his generosity. The parable he tells of the servant puts into perspective what He has done for us.
When you experience the generosity of the gospel, it spills over into your resources – time, talent, and treasure – and how you treat others.
Darrell Bock made this comment about the passage:
It is too easy to want to make people pay in full for their failures rather than to create an environment where restoration is possible. We must consider how to make our communities sensitive to sin, but not closed to grace.
Darrell Bock – NIV Application Commentary on Luke (pg. 442)
Relational stinginess creates rivalries and jealousy. It keeps records of wrong. It assumes the worst. It causes us to hold back our words of grace and truth or weaponize our words towards others to make ourselves feel better. It also demands from God for our righteousness.
Generous relationships create environments of restoration. It keeps short accounts. It assumes the best. It gives expecting nothing in return. It lives in gratitude because of what Jesus has done for us. It speaks words of life with grace and truth. It celebrates the success of others. It lives in humility through the love of Jesus.
As I reflected on this passage, I thought about Brian and the other people who have given generously to me. Generosity gives a phone call to a stranger thousands of miles away.
You have an opportunity today to live out of generosity rather than stinginess.
Who can you be generous towards today? What if today you took an opportunity to see how you could be relationally generous to someone else?
Find out more about generous relationships and Luke 17:1-10 by watching this sermon from 2016.
Photo by Erika Giraud on Unsplash