Generous hands are blessed hands ...

The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped. Generous hands are blessed hands because they give bread to the poor. Be generous to the poor — you’ll never go hungry; shut your eyes to their needs, and run a gauntlet of curses. -Proverbs 11:25;22:9;28:27 MSG

The thesaurus includes these synonyms for the word generous: bighearted; greathearted and kindhearted. It reminds me that generosity is an issue of the heart. Being generous will never make sense to the head because it is often not logical. Generosity is based on grace not merit. Tipping generously is not about a waiter going above and beyond their duties - such behavior merits a greater tip. Being generous is about our tipping going above and beyond.

Solomon's words here reminds me that Jesus once told us that it is more blessed to give than to receive. In light of the verses above I am compelled to consider that the giving that Jesus speaks of is more about giving to the poor than to religious institutions. For sure, many of these institutions share a small percentage of their income with the poor - but I have to wonder if the blessed return on donations to the poor is greater than those given in religious places.

Open our eyes to the poor in our cities Lord. Help us to be bighearted, greathearted and kindhearted people.

2 comments:

  1. AliceSaturday, September 22, 2012 6:19:00 AM

    Before kids, I was a waitress, I see that you are a good tipper:)?

    I also have mixed feelings about giving to religious organizations. My concern is the "middle man" aspect of it. If we could just give what we would normally give on a Sunday directly to a struggling family that we know, I think that would be better sometimes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. kc bobSaturday, September 22, 2012 10:02:00 AM

      I was tested yesterday on this Ma. An elderly waitress (70+) at a local BBQ restaurant was busing tables and my head rationalized that she did not need a big tip because I ordered and picked up my meal at the counter. I am glad that my heart kicked in and took control of my wallet. :)

      Great thought about the middle man. I think that people would be more generous if they could directly meet the needs of the poor.

      Delete

I love to get comments and usually respond. So come back to see my reply.
You can click here to see my comment policy.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)