What does it mean to be generous? Does it mean a $10,000 check to the church? Does it mean giving to a noble cause? While these are worthy ideas, Jesus measures generosity by a zealous new standard – the condition of the giver’s heart. In Matthew, Jesus said “For where your treasure is, there you heart will be also” (6:21).
If your treasure is in gold, there your heart will be also. If your treasure is in material possessions, there your heart will be also. If your treasure is in the Lord, there your heart will also be.
Giving is so much more than an obligation for followers of Christ – it’s an opportunity to put your heart in the Lord and your treasure in eternity. After all, Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give then to receive” (Acts 20:35b). Yet statistics show that U.S. Christians give proportionately less than we did during the Great Depression. Today, like no other time in history, God has positioned people with unprecedented wealth and opportunity to glorify the risen Christ by mirroring the Lord's generosity.
Will you put your treasure in the Lord? Will you continue to be a generous giver and lay your treasures in eternity rather than the fleeting? Will you glorify the Lord by mirroring the actions and words of God?
--Tracy Wood, Web Coordinator, Stratgeic Marketing and Research Team, United Methodist Communications
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