Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
“A lot of giving and receiving has a violent quality, because the givers and receivers act more out of need than out of trust. What looks like generosity is actually manipulation, and what looks like love is really a cry for affection or support. When you know yourself as fully loved, you will be able to give according to the other’s capacity to receive, and you will be able to receive according to the other’s capacity to give. You will be grateful for what is given to you without clinging to it, and joyful for what you can give without bragging about it. You will be a free person, free to to love.”
Henri Nouwen in The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom (New York: Image, 1966) 66.
Nouwen reminds us that our ability to serve as generous conduits is linked to the condition of our hearts: knowing that we are fully loved. Content conduits don’t cling to that which we receive. We also don’t try to control others, but rather, we love others through our giving. Contentment flows from the fact that God will never leave us nor forsake us.
I filled my car up with gas recently, and thought to myself how cool it is that the pump can fill my car according to its capacity to receive. Likewise, when we know we are fully loved we can fill people according to their capacity to receive. And we can do this joyfully because we ourselves are fully loved!
What about you? To grow in generosity rooted in the fact that you are fully loved, perhaps take some time to meditate on God’s love. Try reading Psalm 136 and revel in the truth that God’s love endures forever. Forever! Or if you like music, perhaps listen to the classic David Crowder song, How He Loves.