For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
“If we wish to become generous givers, then we must know this Scripture [John 3:16] intimately. It reminds us that God does not ask of us anything that he has not first done for us. God is the first generous giver. He has provided the highest model of generosity, and He calls for biblical people to follow.”
Gordon MacDonald in Generosity: Moving Toward Life That Is Truly Life (Alpharetta: National Christian Foundation, 2009) 8.
I fly to Dallas this morning to go to the Missio Nexus Mission Leaders Conference. I will speak and listen to great role models in Christian missions. It’s enriching to learn from seasoned brothers as sisters, isn’t it? But we must remind ourselves that the highest model is our Lord Jesus Christ. Why?
What we tend to do as humans is compare ourselves to others. We even pick the people we want to compare ourselves to, and in so doing, we rationalize that we are doing great in areas like generosity. But if we look at the highest model, who sacrificed everything out of love, we are inspired to grow.
To avoid the damaging effects of pride, to stay on the path of growing in the grace of giving, and to excel in generosity, let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. When we do this, we get the right model and then when we follow, we only figure it out as we live it out that generosity is an invitation to life.
Shout out to my brother, David, in Lake Wales, Florida. Today is his birthday. I’ve always appreciated his example to me as a big brother and role model. He’s not perfect by any means, but he is tenacious in following Jesus. Happy Birthday David! Thanks for being a role model to me.