Intentional Generosity

All of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

AS A CHILD, my dad was a Christmas Eve person. That is, he and his family opened gifts on Christmas Eve.

My mom, on the other hand, was a Christmas Day person. She and her family opened gifts on Christmas Day.

But when my parents married, my dad’s parents—my mom’s new in-laws—changed their tradition. Quietly and without fanfare, they became Christmas Day people. It wasn’t until years later that my mom found out how they’d accommodated their habit to her own.

I (Kristin) love this story because it demonstrates how welcoming my grandparents were to my mom when she joined their family, and it is a beautiful example of generosity.

Christmas is a time of giving, but while we often focus on the many gifts we buy for loved ones and friends, it can be easier to overlook other forms of generosity displayed in the Christmas story.

Take the wise men, for instance. We don’t know a lot about them, and in some ways, that makes their motivations and actions more intriguing. Why did they leave their home to search for an infant King? Did they think following the star would be worth the costs they incurred or the time they spent on the road? Why did they choose to bring the gifts they brought?

What we do know is that Matthew 2:1 refers to them as “wise men,” although the term could also be read as “royal astrologers” or “magi.” In A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, the original Greek word magoi is defined as a “wise man and priest, who was expert in astrology, interpretation of dreams and various other occult arts.”^a While various sources wonder whether these visitors were kings, astrologers, or advisers to a distant ruler, we know that they visited from eastern lands, saw a star that they associated with “the newborn king of the Jews,” and came to worship him (see Matthew 2:2).

Their first stop was the palace, where Herod met with them. Of course, it would seem logical that the king they sought would be in a palace, but he wasn’t there. Did they wonder why he wasn’t in such a likely place? Although they had studied prophecies, they may have had to revise their expectations.

After Herod told them where to find the infant and sent them on their way, the star they had seen guided them to Bethlehem and stopped over the place where Jesus was. The wise men responded with gladness: “When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:10-11).

These gifts, of course, were the inspiration for our own gift giving. But the wise men weren’t just generous in their gifts. They were also generous with their time. We aren’t told how much time they committed to their trek, but it could have taken them a month or more to reach Bethlehem.^b In addition, they were generous in setting aside their own desires. By leaving their homeland to seek Jesus, they became travelers on a journey that required them to forgo their comfort. As with my grandparents and their Christmas Eve to Christmas Day shift, generosity may mean we set our personal preferences aside for someone else’s benefit.

Although we don’t know which country they came from or how long it took them to arrive in Bethlehem, we do know that their actions required intentionality. They upended their lives to follow the star—and yet, isn’t that what Jesus asks us to do too? Aren’t we asked to upend our lives for him?

We don’t often get asked to leave our homes behind, but our faith does require action and intention wrapped up in generosity—of our time, talent, or treasure—in service to others. And all of those things result in worshiping the King.

Generosity also requires discernment. When it was time to leave, the wise men avoided returning to Herod, who had falsely claimed he wanted to worship Jesus. In truth, Herod wanted to kill him. The wise men had been warned in a dream about Herod’s intentions, but they still had to accept that the dream was an actual warning. They could easily have dismissed it or explained it away rather than recognizing its wisdom and truth. In the same way, we need to use discernment as we look for ways to be generous to others.

A generosity of spirit is more than giving of our time or money. It’s not simply an action. Instead, it’s who we are, an understanding that we are made in the image of God and reflect his likeness to the world. It’s recognizing that God has been extravagantly generous to us by creating a beautiful world, giving us life, and meeting our needs. When we choose to be generous to others because it reflects God’s model of generosity, it points others to him.

God’s generosity toward us is extravagant, providing us with love, intention, time, compassion, and grace. How can we embody this kind of generosity? Maybe it’s simply by assuming the best about other people’s intentions or being willing to give them the benefit of the doubt when misunderstandings arise. Perhaps it’s being more attentive to others so that we recognize what they need. Or it could require us to overlook small slights instead of escalating them, especially if the harm was unintentional. We reap what we sow, and when we sow generosity, we reap a harvest of kindness. Our actions follow our intentions, so if we begin by thinking generously, we’ll be able to follow through with generous actions.

One year, my husband got a new grill. But after the delivery company dropped it off at our house, it sat on a pallet in the garage for months. Our friend Eli, who knew about its presence, stopped me one day on my way out of church.

“Hey, I know Tim will be gone for business this week,” he said. “What do you think about Adam and me stopping over, putting the grill together for him, and moving it out of the garage?”

“Oh my goodness, he would love that!” I said, feeling relieved and grateful. They knew Tim had been too swamped with work to put it together and took time out of their schedules to help. Though their generosity was an action, it came about because they were attentive to the needs of others and noticed Tim’s busy calendar.

In the same way, my friend Heather joked recently that her pantry was a graveyard of empty containers from meals people dropped off when she had a new baby. Although thrilled with the meals, she felt slightly overwhelmed at the prospect of returning all the containers. One friend had a unique solution. When she dropped off her meal, she told Heather, “Don’t worry about the container. I’ll drop off a coffee for you next week, and I can pick up the container then.” What a thoughtful idea!

When we cultivate a generous spirit, we become more attuned to the needs of those around us. We are more willing to forgo our comfort or preferences in ways that are indeed acts of kindness for those who benefit. As we do, we’ll grow more and more into the image of God, reflecting the likeness of his love into the world.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your generosity. May our actions always reflect your generosity in ways that minister to and care for others. Give us wisdom and open our eyes to the needs of those around us so that we may cultivate a spirit of generosity. Amen.