Today, I witnessed a random act of kindness. There was a young lady that apparently didn’t have money to pay for her breakfast and was holding up the line. She was upset because she had just gotten paid and wanted to buy breakfast. Something so simple. The patrons after her hemmed and hawed on the line and she only needed another $1.50 to complete the transaction. No one stepped up to give her the money. After going back and forth to her car twice, the manager came over and told the cashier to void the transaction after she cleared the line. I made up my mind to pay for her breakfast when I got to the cashier. As the cashier was taking the other customers, someone asked to pay the young lady’s tab while she was at her car for a third time. It led me to consider generosity.
I noticed that people tend to shy away from being generous because they associate it with money. Not many people realize that money is a small part of it. While generosity is mainly associated with monetary issues, there are also other ways we can be generous. We can be generous with our time, our information, our goods, our non-monetary resources, our compliments. We don’t see these other reasons because it is disguised in kindness but generosity is a part of being kind. The bible is full of verses about living generously. The more we give, the more we receive. Now, I’m not saying that we should give to get. I’m saying, the biblical meaning of being kind is a posture of your heart. Unselfishness. When you are kind and unselfish, you are giving because you recognize that, as a believer, everything you have belongs to God and that we should have a heart posture that is prepared to give at a moment’s notice, without regret or fanfare.
Generosity is sometimes described as openhandedness. This description reminded me of a sermon about generosity. The pastor demonstrated that when you give, you have your hands open. When your hands are opened, you can also receive. The Bible tells us that we should be kind and give generously. That when we give we should do it without broadcasting it. When I give, I get a charge. I get more of a charge when there are no witnesses. It is a badge of honor. My spirit feels at peace. I have received blessings because I use my blessings to be a blessing. God rewards those with unselfish hearts.
The bible says that you reap what you sow. Giving is a seed that you are sowing into God’s field. Start practicing living generously. I promise you will not regret it. I haven’t.
Meditation: Proverbs 11:25 (NIV) A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
~ Selah
In complete agreement with you. I feel so whole when I give to others, whether they know it or not, but especially when no one is watching.