Give until it gets funny
‘And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.’ — 2 Corinthians 9:8
‘The most mature Christians I’ve known haven’t been pearl-clutching, grouchy misers. The holiest people I know have a twinkle in their eye—like they know a secret (Guess what? It’s grace).’ — Carissa Early
At the start of this year, my wife and I took a sabbatical and went as far away from the cold, dark, endless grey-ness of the UK as we could go, which inevitably meant heading to Australia.
On the third day of our trip, we went to a donut shop in Perth. After we made our order (one single-glazed to avoid outright indulgence), the girl behind the till packaged it up, and then told us it was on the house.
It was a lovely surprise.
But after we left and headed down the street, we checked the bag—and there were two donuts in there.
She’d somehow snuck in another free donut.
We couldn’t really believe it.
After we got over our initial shock and then suspicion of whether these donuts were really legit, we laughed and realised we had been on the receiving end of a totally unexpected act of generosity.
Sure, it was just donuts. It’s not like she gave us her dog or her life savings.
But that’s beside the point. That girl’s small act of generosity gave us a massive dose of joy (and sugar). She blessed us when she didn’t have to—and we’ll always remember her and thank God for giving us that moment.
Give until it gets funny
God is generous. He gives and gives and gives with infinite abundance and out of endless kindness. And He wants us, His children, to do the same.
Paul says that God loves a ‘cheerful’ giver—but the Greek word is ‘hilaros’, which is the root for the English word, ‘hilarious’.
It’s almost like Paul has in mind someone who gives away what they have to others so freely, so eagerly, so unconditionally, that it starts to become funny.
It’s a type of joyful generosity that causes a chain-reaction of joy in others.
It’s a kind of giving that just doesn’t make worldly sense, because it’s a kind of giving that comes from another world—from Heaven.
Now, this doesn’t mean stewarding what we have foolishly. There’s no point of emptying your savings if your heart is full of resentment, misery or desperation for people to applaud you for your good deed.
This kind of generosity is all about the posture of our hearts.
Everything we have is from God and for Him. By being generous, we simply pass on what He’s already given us, fully confident that He is always full of grace, and that He will always give us what we need.
And that’s one of the hard lessons of trust that every child of God needs to learn: that He will provide for us.
It’s far easier for us to hang on to a mindset of scarcity—thinking that God will somehow fail us or leave us to fend for ourselves in this world—than to have an attitude of generosity, which only comes when we fully trust God to give us what we need.
We worry that by giving generously—or ‘hilariously’—we might be taken advantage of, or get left with nothing.
But the beautiful thing about generosity—when practised wisely with the guidance of the Holy Spirit—is that it is freeing.
It frees us from fear about our purses and possessions.
It frees us from attempting to control our lives.
It frees us to respond kindly to those around us.
It frees us to bless the world just like our Heavenly Father does every day.
It’s meant to be fun
Living generously for God is fun because you can be so creative with it. There are no rules!
If you sense Him inviting you to give something away, or do something kind, or treat someone lavishly, or donate something, then follow His lead, and see where it takes you.
Generosity is not meant to be a burden, but a joyful practice that we get to share with God Himself.
So, enjoy it.
Enjoy buying that person in the queue in front of you their coffee.
Enjoy covering a friend’s flights for a much-needed holiday.
Enjoy baby-sitting for a couple so they can finally enjoy a date night.
Enjoy helping that stranger hit their GoFundMe target.
Give away hilariously, knowing that God loves you and will joyfully give you ‘everything you need and plenty left over to share with others’ (2 Corinthians 9:8).
Who knows, that might even include a couple of donuts.
Love,
Theo
