Choose to Be Generous
When my wife and I lived in Ecuador, we were sometimes blessed by visits from Canadian friends. One of the things we enjoyed doing was showing them around our adopted country. We were often amused by their strong reactions to things to which we had become accustomed. Their response to the sights and smells of a rural meat market, for example, made us think that some of them had been scarred for life. The majesty of snow-capped volcanoes, some of which were still active, elicited gasps of wonder. Poverty-stricken little children with their dark-eyed, trusting faces drew out feelings of compassion. Gigantic trees towering over raging jungle torrents provoked a sense of one’s personal smallness and vulnerability in this unfamiliar environment.
On one specific occasion, I drove some Canadian visitors to another town to connect with some people they wanted to meet. On the way, we dropped in on Francisco’s family. They had a little farm along the side of the road on the edge of the jungle. Francisco greeted us warmly, invited us into his home, then indicated that we should sit at their dining table.
He disappeared for a few moments and we could overhear him speaking in his indigenous language to his wife and children. Soon he joined us and I spent the next twenty minutes translating the conversation between my Canadian and Ecuadorian friends.
The dialogue was interrupted by Francisco’s wife with a tray of food, consisting of a big bunch of bananas, a bowl with three soft-boiled eggs - still hot enough to burn your fingers, and three large steaming cups of highly sweetened fresh milk. We knew it was fresh because it still had the “cowy” smell of milk which has never been refrigerated, let alone processed. Following their custom, the family retired while the visitors ate on their own.
What my friends didn’t know was that this simple meal was, in fact, an act of sacrificial generosity. The food they shared with us did not come from a well stocked refrigerator, but represented a significant portion of the family’s nutritional resources for that day. My friends were torn between trying to consume the food to which they were not used, and frankly did not enjoy, and truly appreciating the generosity of spirit in which it had been given.
I mention this because most of the time, we reserve the word “generous” for those who give spectacular amounts of money or goods to charitable causes. Francisco and his family were generous with what they had. Though the food itself did not seem particularly generous either in terms of quality or quantity, it revealed a generosity of spirit which was heart-warming.
Generosity does not come easily to us. We naturally hoard material things for ourselves and prefer to dish out complaints, criticism, and condemnation to others. This is not what we are called to. As Jesus said, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10.8)
As followers of Jesus, it is appropriate to reflect His generosity to those around us regardless of the level of material resources we possess. He is generous in all that He gives us. His sacrifice on our behalf is really unfathomable, for not only was he generous toward His friends, but even to those who aligned themselves against Him - His enemies.
There are many passages which challenge us about generosity, though the word itself is not common in the English translations I tend to use most. “Abundance” is more common. Be inspired by this brief list of biblical references to the concept of generosity:
This is not an exhaustive exploration of the generosity of spirit which God has toward us and which He calls us to have toward others. However, it is enough to convince me that I want to respond to the call - generously.
Ron Hughes
© Febuary 2009
