Over the years I have discovered many things about God and one of those things is that He is generous. We see it in the way He lavishes His love on us, and we experience His forgiveness for our sins—all of them. He created this wonderful planet for us to live on, even though He knew beforehand the many ways we would rebel against Him. Even so, He joyfully adopted us into His family. Our God is generous—and He wants us to be generous, too. Today, let's consider a passage that can help us to be a little bit more like our generous God:

One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. (Prov. 11:24-25)

In this passage, the writer is sharing his observations about the people around him. He sees people who give freely from what they have and observes they have more to give. He also sees people with wealth who are stingy with it and they become impoverished. Then he states this biblical principle: "A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed." When we’re generous with money, time, love, service or even our compliments, God gives us more opportunities to be generous again...and in that way we become more like Him. This isn't a get-rich scheme that we can use to become wealthy; it's the way the Kingdom of God functions in a practical way in our world, here and now. When we are generous, that generosity comes back to us and we have even more to share.

Today, take time to consider how you can become more generous. Do you have a vegetable or flower garden that's producing well? Share it with others. Do you have some free time? How can someone else benefit from it? Do you have some cash in your wallet? Why not share some of it with people in need. My wife Pam is generous and not just with money. She's also generous with praise. She always finds a way to compliment and encourage the people around her. When you and I are generous, we become more like Jesus who gave everything to save us...and that is very Good News!