Give Generously

"Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to." - Deuteronomy 15:10

As I was flipping through my Bible, my eyes landed on this underlined verse. I thought it was a good verse, jotted it down on a post-it, and moved on. However, the verse kept coming back to me. The verse continued to convict me as I made decisions. When I first read the verse, the first thing that came to my mind was money. However, as a college student, it's not something I have a lot of. And no where in the verse does it say "give generous amounts of money." As I pondered upon the verse, I realized that although I don't have a lot of money, I do have the talents God has given me. I also have knowledge and time that I can give to others. And in this verse, God also gives us a promise. As we give generously, he promises that he will bless us in all our work and in everything we put our hand to. How amazing is that?

Honestly, it is a struggle to give generously because my instinct is to hold onto what I have - money, knowledge, etc. Sometimes it's inconvenient to help others because I have to go out of my way and give my time. However, God doesn't want me to live a life in which I just look out only for myself. He wants me to give generously to others. I believe that when you can give generously, it's a reflection that you have received much. And God has blessed me so much throughout my life! Therefore I hope that I can learn to give generously without a grudging heart, trusting God's promises that He will bless me in all my work and all that I put my hand to.