When it comes to giving our resources, we have a natural bent of being foolish and greedy. Consequently, we selfishly give any gift to ourselves. A non-profit corporation CEO offers a favor to a potential donor whom he will ask later for a charitable contribution that will advance his agenda for the organization. He gave the gift to himself. A busy husband reluctantly adheres to his wife’s request to pick up the kids from school only so he might find his reward from her that night. He gave the gift to himself. A car salesman buys lunch for a prospective new car purchaser. He gave the gift to himself. A politician serves the homeless for five minutes by filling their plates with food at a local soup kitchen while the television cameras capture the footage. The airing will garner him votes. He gave the gift to himself.
Jesus’ disciple Peter addressed this pattern by offering God’s design, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10). We were designed to be generous with our gifts of time, talent, and treasure. God desires that we use them to serve, faithfully administering divine grace--His undeserved love--in its various forms. We were designed to use our gifts received vertically to serve those horizontally, so that they connect vertically with the grace of the Generous One.
Generous and generate come from the same Latin word, genus, meanig "race, or kind." Generous means "giving." Generate means "multiply." Consequently, generousity multiplies giving in the human race. God’s desire is to multiply our gifts through us to generate generosity in others. Yet many of us still believe that our grasp at significance, contentment, control, and security apart from God will ultimately satisfy these four primary desires. Attempting to satisfy our desires apart from God creates the gap of pretense in each one of us. This gap misaligns our hearts, desires, and three resources of life, from the outside in, leaving us dissatisfied.
We tend to think of generosity only in terms of giving something that we already have, usually measured in financial capital. However, generosity begins before the first dollar comes in because it originates with a generous heart and its accompanying desires that are fully surrendered to God. This results in fully surrendering our three resources of life: time, talent, and treasure. This act of surrender is not restricted to merely how money exits our coffers.
Our barrier to generosity is greed. Whereas, a greedy heart results from pride vertically toward God and horizontally toward others, a generous heart begins with humility toward God and others because God generously gives grace to the humble (Prov. 3:34). A proud greedy heart is hard. A humble generous heart is soft. The Bible connects a hard heart with a tight fist, and a soft heart with an open hand (Deut. 15:7-8). We are called to be softhearted and openhanded with our resources because God is generous (Matt. 20:15). His ultimate generosity was displayed in Christ. Paul stated, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2. Cor. 8:9). He is the ultimate picture of the vertical intersecting with the horizontal.
Humility is also the prerequisite to wisdom (Prov. 11:2). Consequently, a person with a generous heart is wise. However, a person with a greedy heart is foolish. Solomon asked, “Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom” (Prov. 17:16). Money is pride’s measurement of our giftedness. Wisdom is humility’s measurement of our godliness.
An examination of Proverbs offers wisdom for the vertical and horizontal lines of the flow of resources. The vertical represents the Ups and Downs. The horizontal represents the Ins and Outs. Since resources originate by coming in to our lives, God gives us the Ins, Outs, Ups, and Downs of Resources in Wisdom’s Ten W’s: Ten Characteristics of a Wise and Generous Heart. (See the April 21, 2009 WisdomWorksheet for “The Ins and Outs of Resources,” Part 1 of “God’s Ins, Outs, Ups, & Down of Resources: Ten Characteristics of a Wise and Generous Heart.”)
Up–God is our Purpose (Prov. 16:4)
Solomon advocated that we demonstrate God is our Purpose when our resources go up. The author of Proverbs clarified the purposes of God: “The LORD works out everything for his own ends—even the wicked for a day of disaster” (Prov. 16:4). God has a purpose for our resources before we get them. When our resources build up, it is important that we seek God to discover His purpose.
W #8: Walk Worthily (Prov. 19:21; 1 Chron. 29:11; Prov. 21:20; 10:2; Matt. 10:16)
Eighth, in order to be wise and generous, we must walk worthily of the resources that God purposefully built up in our storehouses. This means that our walk matches our talk. Consequently, we: (1) steward, (2) save, and are (3) shrewd and harmless with our resources.
Steward (Prov. 19:21; 1 Chron. 29:11)
When we walk worthily, we recognize that God owns all the resources, and we merely steward our wealth for His purpose. Solomon penned, “Many are the plans of in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails” (Prov. 19:21). God’s primary purpose is to advance His kingdom in the hearts and lives of people. After Solomon’s father David had collected the funds for the Temple that would glorify God, he prayed, “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all” (1 Chron. 29:11). David saw himself as a steward.
Save (Prov. 21:20)
When we walk worthily, we save. Solomon observed, “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has” (Prov. 21:20).
Shrewd and Harmless (Prov. 10:2)
When we walk worthily, we are shrewd and harmless with our resources. Solomon cautioned, “Ill-gotten treasures are of no value, but righteousness delivers from death” (Prov. 10:2). In essence, he said that when our resources go up, it should be only from walking worthily, including being shrewd and harmless with others. At the same time, we must seek God’s shrewd and harmless purposes for our wealth. Jesus illustrated the risks embedded in the marketplace along with His desire for wisdom to endure them when he said to His disciples, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16).
W #9: Worship Not (Prov. 8:10-11; 18:10, 11; 11:4, 28; Luke 12:15)
Ninth, in order to demonstrate God as our Purpose when our resources increase beyond our commitments, we must be careful to worship not our wealth, rooting out any hint of greed. Greed is worshiping our possessions. Paul called it idolatry (Col. 3:5). Solomon confirmed that wisdom is more valuable than any temporary resource: “Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her” (Prov. 8:10-11). Solomon conveyed that we were designed to worship God: “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Prov. 18:10). Unfortunately, as our resources escalate, we risk seeking security from our wealth rather than God. Solomon communicated, “The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall” (Prov. 18:11). Those resources provide no security at our judgment. The King warned, “Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death” (Prov. 11:4). He taught that trusting in our resources for security leaves us insecure: “Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf” (Prov. 11:28). Money is pride’s measurement of our giftedness. Wisdom is humility’s measurement of our godliness.
Jesus warned against greed: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). When our resources go up, we must worship not our wealth.
PAUSE and Let Wisdom Work. . .
When your resources build up, discover God as your Purpose. Walk worthily of wisdom and generosity by beginning to steward, save, and be shrewd and harmless with your wealth. Above all, worship not by rooting out any hint of greed.
Down–God is our Protector (Prov. 16:7)
When resources go down, we act wisely and generously when we authentically say, “God is our Protector.” Solomon wrote, “When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him” (Prov. 16:7). In other words, God is our Protector.
W #10: Worry Not (Prov. 23:4-5)
Tenth, in order to see God as our Protector when our resources go down, we must worry not. The Thirty Sayings of the Wise inform us of the brevity of wealth: “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle” (Prov. 23:4-5). Jesus said that we could not add a single hour to our lives by worrying (Matt. 6:27).
PAUSE and Let Wisdom Work. . .
When your resources go down, trust in God as your Protector. Worry not. Whenever you sense anxiety creeping into your heart, pray. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you move from fear to faith in God as your ultimate source of security
Conclusion:
When we are wise and generous in heart, we fully surrender to God’s Ins, Outs, Ups, and Downs of Resources. As our time, talent, and treasure come in, we recognize that God is our Provider. As our resources go out, we demonstrate that God is our Passion. As our gifts build up, we discover that God is our Purpose. When our resources go down, we trust that God is our Protector. |
