Philippians 4:19

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

Generosity is a beautiful thing. I had the blessing of a very generous aunt. She never married and was a devoted follower of Jesus. She was generous with her time, especially to neighbours who were in need. Although she held a very senior executive role she was always happy to do the most menial jobs and would think nothing of it. She died in retirement while taking a neighbour to hospital and that seemed to sum up her life. She was always very generous with her money and was always looking for creative ways to help people and planted firmly in my teenage mind the blessing of being generous.

Christians are not automatically generous, and the apostle Paul noted that the generosity of the Philippian church stood in marked contrast to that of many others. As he came towards the end of the letter, he thanked them once again for their gifts and described them as being “a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God” (Philippians 4:18). When we give financial support to one another God notices and is blessed by our action, because in our giving we are reflecting the generosity that God first showed to us.

However generous we might be, our generosity is only ever a pale reflection of the generosity of God. This beautiful letter has described the way in which God has poured out his love to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul next assured his readers that they could look to the future with confidence knowing that God would continue to supply them with everything that they needed. God loves us too much to give us everything we want but we can be sure that, whatever our circumstances or our needs, God will perfectly provide for us.

Question

Who has inspired you by their generosity, and in what ways do you seek to be generous to others?

Prayer

Thank you, loving God, that you have always been generous to me and always will be. Amen