God has more promises in the Bible about giving than anything else.
Why?
Because God is a giver, and he wants us to become like him. Everything we have in life is because God is generous.
But giving is hard to do. It challenges our selfishness, so God rewards us when we do it.
One article can’t possibly list the hundreds of promises in the Bible about giving, but I’ve narrowed it down to nine.
Here are nine rewards God promises to those who live generous lives:
1. God promises good things will happen to you. “All goes well for the generous man who conducts his business fairly” (Psalm 112:5 TLB).
Generosity unlocks the key to God’s blessing in your life.
2. God promises your children will be blessed. “The Godly are always generous. Their children will be blessed” (Psalm 37:26 NIV84).
When you model the generosity of God, he not only blesses you, but he passes the blessing on to the next generation.
3. God promises to bless your work and your business. “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine” (Proverbs 3:9-10 NIV).
Almost everyone was a farmer in biblical times. Barns and vats represented a person’s investments and livelihood, and God promised to bless the businesses of people who honored him with their wealth.
4. God promises you’ll be happier. “You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35 NLT).
I honestly didn’t believe this verse when I was a kid. I’d rather get a Christmas gift than give one. But maturity comes when you realize that there’s more happiness in giving than receiving.
5. God promises your influence will increase. “The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller” (Proverbs 11:24 The Message).
Your world expands when you’re faithful with what God gives you. The opposite is also true—when you’re stingy, your world gets smaller.
6. God promises you’ll end up with more. “Give, and it will be given to you” (Luke 6:38 CSB).
God’s economy says we don’t give to get a blessing; we give to be a blessing. But the truth is, you can’t out give God.
7. God promises to meet all of your needs. “Those who give to the poor will lack nothing” (Proverbs 28:27 NIV).
It sounds too good to be true, but God says it over and over in Scripture: “If you are generous with what I give you, I will meet all of your needs—financial, physical, and spiritual.”
8. God promises to multiply what you give him. “For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you” (2 Corinthians 9:10 NLT).
When you plant a seed, you don’t get a single seed back. You get hundreds of thousands of seeds from just that one seed. It’s the principle of multiplication. God will take what you give him and multiply it, so it goes even further. God does it with money, but he also does it with energy and time.
9. God promises that your giving is stored up in heaven. “Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life” (1 Timothy 6:18-19 NLT).
God has set up a bank account for you in heaven. We know it’s true because Jesus mentioned it five times. It’s more important than your retirement account on earth. It’s going to last trillions and trillions of years. Every time you use “your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends,” you’re investing in this account (Luke 16:9 NLT).
Keep these nine promises in mind as you strive to be faithful in generosity and lead others to do likewise.
Photo by Elaine Casap on Unsplash
Thanks Rick. Amen.