Stingy Generosity

Stingy Generosity

Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.

Luke 6:38

At the beginning of each school year, I purchase school supplies for my children, and I buy extra sets of the same items to donate to our school. One year as I walked the aisles, my eye was drawn to the folders I knew my kids would love—puppies, Lisa Frank, fast cars, Ninja Turtles. While I splurged and bought the fun folders for my children, my generally frugal nature had me reaching for the fifty-cent solid-colored folders for the donated items.

Pausing, I remembered an article discussing the psychological difference it makes when kids receive donations of school supplies that consist of the “good stuff” instead of the very cheapest stuff. I realized that I was about to do the same thing that so frustrates me about stingy generosity—I was giving my children the good stuff and giving someone else’s child the cheap stuff. Over the years, I’ve winced time and again when Christians have responded to a call for donations with inferior-quality items. While I’m not suggesting that donations need to come from the most expensive stores, I do think there’s something to be said for providing what we ourselves would like to have.

I silently asked God for forgiveness. Instead of going over my budget, I made my kids part of the conversation. They got to choose a mix of the regular, solid-colored folders and the fun, fancy folders for themselves, and we set aside the same mix of regular and fun folders to donate. My children are learning the joy of giving the good stuff to others, not the leftovers, the rejects, the stuff that is not good enough for them.

We are called to be generous, cheerful givers, and we are told that the amount we give will determine what we receive. God has not been stingy with the blessings he has poured onto my family, and I cannot, if I am giving in accordance with Scripture, practice stingy generosity.

—Julie

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

Consider whether you typically practice stingy generosity. The next time you’re faced with the opportunity to give, do so generously.