One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. Proverbs 11:24
“Generous giving contributes to abundance and withholding to shortage and scarcity. The operative word in the text is ‘freely’. There is something about generous (and wise) giving that does something not only for those who are the recipients of the giving but for the giver also. Those who hold on to what they have and refuse to be generous towards those less fortunate than themselves may not experience poverty in financial terms, but they will undoubtedly experience it in spiritual terms. And there can be nothing worse than poverty of soul.”
Selwyn Hughes in Divine Mathematics: A Biblical Perspective on Investing in God’s Kingdom (Surrey, UK: CWR, 2004) 9. Special thanks to Cameron Doolittle of Generosity Path for recommending this wonderful little book.
Living according to “Divine Mathematics” results in abundance and spiritual richness, whereas following the world’s system leads to scarcity and poverty of soul. Only those who live into the abundance paradigm, which requires faith, ever grasp it.
This is not about prosperity gospel, in which giving is about getting material wealth in return. This is about learning to give ‘freely’ rooted in the realization that all we have came to us ‘freely’ by grace from God. The function of the word ‘freely’ truly does determine a person’s spiritual richness or poverty.
To look at it another way, when we live according to “Divine Mathematics” (as Hughes puts it) we realize we are not simply end-users of all that comes to us, but rather distributors of God’s love and care. When we don’t let it flow through us, we are the ones who miss out, and as a result, we experience scarcity and the spiritual poverty that comes with it.
Remember the words of Jesus Himself. Freely you have received; freely give. Matthew 10:8b
Do you give freely?