A Lesson from my Dad: Generosity
Since I wrote a lesson I learned from my mom on Mother’s Day, I decided that in honor of Father’s Day I would write about a lesson I’ve learned from my dad. 😊
God has blessed me with a wonderful dad who loves the Lord and desires to serve Him in all he does. One lesson God has taught me through my dad is generosity.
My dad is very generous. He is very quick to support ministries and give to help those in need. But one way that has greatly impacted me is my dad’s generosity toward us kids. Growing up, my dad has shown us kids love through generosity with his time and especially in giving gifts. I have fond memories of going to the gas station with dad to get candy. My dad has generously paid for us to go to youth camps and invested in our college educations. I am not a perfect child by any means; I haven’t deserved the gifts my dad has given me. But he gives them anyways because he loves us. This has been a tangible example to me of the love of our generous Heavenly Father:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:7-11
If my dad knows how to give good gifts to me, how much more loving is my Heavenly Father! God truly gives a thousand times more than I deserve.
You shed abroad a plentiful rain, O God; You confirmed Your inheritance when it was parched. Your creatures settled in it; You provided in Your goodness for the poor, O God. Psalm 68:9-10
They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. Psalm 36:8
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:5
The ultimate example of generosity is when God gave us His only Son to die in our place for our sins. We didn’t deserve this amazing gift, and yet God gave it anyways.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:3-6
But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:4-7
See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 1 John 3:1
We are called to imitate our Heavenly Father (see Eph. 5:1), which means we are called to generosity. No matter how much we have, we still have the ability to be generous. Generosity isn’t just about finances; we can be generous with our time, our grace, and our love. Below are some verses that have taught me about generosity:
“If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. Deuteronomy 15:7-8
God calls us to be generous toward those in need. He says we’re to freely open our hands and meet other’s needs. A question I have to ask myself is am I holding tightly to my possessions, my time, my grace, my love, or have I surrendered those things to God so that I can freely open my hands and meet other’s needs?
Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. 1 Timothy 6:17-19
God has blessed me to allow me to live in the United States where our country is prosperous, and I have been blessed with more than I need. But my hope must not be on what I have, but on God. And because I’ve been so blessed, I have all the more responsibility to make sure that I am sharing that blessing with others!
There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, And he who waters will himself be watered. He who withholds grain, the people will curse him, But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it. Proverbs 11:24-26
This passage was something I memorized last fall, and it really impacted me. The thought of scattering causing increasing seems so opposite, but that’s how God is – when we give, He out-gives us, and He blesses those who choose to be generous.
But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Philippians 4:18-20
I love the example of the Philippians. They freely supported Paul’s missionary journeys. And because of their willingness to freely be generous, they received the promise that God would meet their needs for His glory.
God has blessed us so much; let’s allow His blessing to overflow us and touch those around us!
With love,
Kelsey
P.S. As we celebrate dads this Father’s Day, I encourage all of us to celebrate our Heavenly Father, too. He is worth all the celebrating we can give!
