A Generous Life

A primary character trait of a prosperous soul is generosity. In fact, most men and women of faith I know are generous people. God’s Word certainly confirms this in the following verse: 

“The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself,” (Proverbs 11:25).

A major hindrance to a prosperous soul and a prosperous life is stinginess. The scripture also bears this principle out:

“There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty,” (Proverbs 11:24).

You know this man. You have met him before or maybe you have even been him at one time in your life. His name is Mr. Scrooge. Others call him “Tight-Wad.” He still owns the first dollar he ever made—rather, it owns him! He may have money, but his soul is not prospering because of his fear of losing it and the greed that drives him to attain more. The Bible speaks of the condition of this man’s soul:

“There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing,” (Proverbs 13:7).

One story in the Word that describes such a man is found in I Samuel chapter 25. It is the story of Nabal. This chapter tells us Nabal was very rich. He was so rich that if he gave what most would consider a lavish gift, he would never have missed it. 

David and his men had been on the run from King Saul and had been hiding in caves. While in the area where Nabal’s land and livestock were, David and his men had been a protection and blessing to Nabal’s shepherds, sheep-shearers, and flocks. In return for their protection, they requested food and provision from Nabal, which he could easily have afforded to give them out of his abundance. 

Yet Nabal refused David’s request and accused him of betrayal of Saul. It is quite common for the stingy and selfish to attempt to spiritually justify their failure to give and bless others from what God has blessed them with. Nabal’s name and identity with others meant infidel, unbeliever, and fool. It is foolish and unbelieving to be stingy or hold a tight grip on your money and possessions. 

The purpose of prosperity is for each of us to be blessed so we can be a blessing to others (Genesis 12:12). The New Testament definition of prosperity is each of us entering into His grace to receive enough to meet our needs and extra or abundance so we can give to every good work the Lord places on our heart (II Corinthians 9:8). Each of us in Christ, as part of our inheritance, has grace to be blessed to be a blessing and to have enough and extra! 

In the last part of I Samuel 25 we see how the tightness of Nabal’s soul, his stinginess, and selfishness with his possessions affected him physically and resulted in his death. His physical heart actually turned to stone, which was a picture of his soul or heart.

Let me share some examples of generosity in men of faith I have observed personally:

• I watched Kenneth Hagin receive an offering at his annual camp meeting in 1979 for Oral Roberts when his own ministry was in desperate need of funds. As I remember over $300,000 came in for Oral Roberts that night and Kenneth Hagin’s ministry needs were met as well. Praise God! 
• I have observed my pastor, Bob Nichols, of Calvary Cathedral International in Fort Worth, Texas give generously to many missionaries and help other pastors and churches that were in need. I have been one of the recipients of his generosity. He and his church also provide Christian television to the nation of Uganda. He is one of the most generous men I know. He also is a great man of faith. 
• Paul Milligan, who was recently the COO of Andrew Wommack Ministries, was an elder in my church and a successful businessman in North Texas for several years. When he started his first business, he told me his vision for business was to provide jobs for people. What a paradigm shift in thinking. This is generosity thinking, and it is God’s kind of thinking! 

You and I were created in the image of God. When we were born again we received His very nature—His DNA—in our spirits. His nature is giving, generous, and benevolent. Therefore our nature is giving, generous, and benevolent—not greedy, selfish, and stingy.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” (John 3:16).

I want to leave you with one final encouragement in this important principle of having a generous soul and living a generous life.

“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver,” (II Corinthians 9:7).

Years ago I approached this verse from a law and performance-based mindset that interpreted this verse to say to me, “You better be cheerful in your giving, boy!” You cannot even get that interpretation from the context of this verse because He mentions giving as we purpose in our hearts and warns against giving by obligation. Yet apart from grace, we view the Word very different than God intends, and that is how I viewed this apart from a revelation of His grace. 

As I was meditating on this verse one day, the Lord revealed to me His intent for using “cheerful” as an adjective to describe the kind of giving that blesses Him and brings joy to Him. He spoke to me and said, “Cheerfulness and joy is the barometer you are to use to direct your giving. Give where you find the most joy and where you are most cheerful. And don’t feel condemned or guilty about not giving where you don’t have joy.” Wow! How freeing this revelation was for me.

There had been many times my wife and I had given to a certain ministry or individual, and they did not use our gift for the purpose they we had designated it for. Some ministries we supported began to use manipulative tactics to raise money and pressure and condemn people who were not giving to their ministry or who stopped giving to their ministry. In both instances, we lost joy in giving to these individuals and ministries. 

When the Lord showed me His intent for encouraging us to be cheerful in our giving was to help direct our giving to individuals and ministries where we had joy, it totally set me free. Joy-based giving is the kind of giving the Lord loves. I love it too. 

I want to end with a prayer for you:

Father, I thank you for the reader of this blog. They were created in your image in their spirit when they received your Son Jesus as their Lord and Savior and were born again. I pray their soul be transformed and conformed to the likeness of their new nature and that they walk in the dominion, prosperity, health, and success you have ordained for them in this life. I bless them with a prosperous soul and a prosperous and healthy life. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Adapted from Greg Mohr’s Book, A Prosperous Soul