The Key to Being a Generous Person
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Psalm 51:12
The whole promise of the New Testament is that our spirit, our basic attitude would be born again by the power of the Holy Spirit.
There are several key elements to a great attitude;
Faith-filled - positive and encouraging
Forgiving - merciful and non judgmental
Hospitable - welcoming and accepting
Enthusiastic - bright and energetic
Content - happy and uncomplaining
Agreeable - finding ways to agree
Noble - courteous and clean
and Generous - free spirited and abundant.
Psalm 51:12 tells us that we can ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with His generous spirit.
The Generous Spirit Is:
1. BIG
The generous spirit gives an abundance and gives the best.
Every time Jesus provided for the people following Him or for His disciples, He provided an abundance.
This is one of the most attractive attributes of God. We are drawn to generous people and repelled from the stingy.
'But a generous man devises generous things, and by generosity he shall stand.' Isaiah 32:8
Right out of Psalm 23 we're told that when He fills our cup He keeps filling till it runs over.
Paul says God will do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20-21).
When Jesus made wine he didn't ask, 'How much do you need?'. He simply made an extraordinary abundance of the best wine.
When He fed the multitude there was an abundance for the people to eat, plus an abundance left over.
When Moses called for the people to give for the building of the tabernacle they had more than enough because they had plundered the Egyptians as they left the land of Egypt.
'Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.' Psalm 34:3
We get bigger when we see God as bigger.
We should be big people, with large attitudes, great dreams and enormous capacities. If we are to have a big life, we need to grow within and become big people.
2. THANKFUL
A generous spirit has thankfulness for the smallest things and is extravagant in its praise and appreciation of others. It is big in its appreciation of the smallest of services.
Thankfulness is the first attitude.
When you enter the Presence of God first come with thanksgiving.
When you meet people, thank them for something they've done recently.
Paul FIRST says thanks to God and the people in all but one of his New Testament letters.
So much has been given to me, I have no time to ponder over that which has been denied.
Helen Keller
Complaining about our lot in life might seem quite innocent in itself, but God takes it personally.
Erwin W. Lutzer
3. MERCIFUL
A generous spirit shows mercy when people are facing challenging situations.
It is not holding petty judgments or finding faults with others. It is covering the shortcomings of others rather than exposing them.
'Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?' Matthew 7:1-3
A generous eye forgives a person's faults quickly. A generous person overlooks the mistakes, or intentional sins of others. A generous spirited person forgets the reproach on others swiftly.
Edwin Markham said, 'Whoever falls from God's right hand, is caught in his left'.
This needs to be how we approach our relationships. When someone fails our standards, we catch them in our left hand of a merciful attitude, forgiving and receiving anew.
By our attitude we will rise or fall, succeed or fail, win or lose. Keep a generous attitude by keeping close to the Holy Spirit. He will surely 'uphold you by His generous Spirit'.
