What Makes A Person Truly Generous?
A heart first given to Christ remains faithful even when competing demands pull at its budget and priorities.
Summer changes our routines. School lets out. Vacations begin. Weekends fill with travel, family gatherings, and long evenings outdoors. Our calendars fill up, our spending often shifts, and before long it’s easy for our priorities to shift as well.
Yet while our schedules change, God’s work doesn’t take the summer off. Churches, missionaries, and Christian ministries continue proclaiming the gospel and serving people every day of the year.
So what makes a person remain generous when there are so many worthwhile places to spend time and money?
Jesus answered that question one day as He watched people place their offerings into the Temple treasury. Wealthy people gave large but convenient amounts, but then a poor widow quietly dropped in two small copper coins—everything she had.
Jesus called His disciples together and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on” (Mark 12:43–44, NLT).
Jesus wasn’t impressed by the size of the gift. He was revealing the condition of her heart.
The Apostle Paul later described that same kind of generosity when encouraging the believers in Corinth. Although they excelled in faith, knowledge, and spiritual gifts, he urged them to “excel also in this gracious act of giving” (2 Corinthians 8:7). Then he pointed them to the churches in Macedonia. Despite severe trials and deep poverty, they overflowed with joyful generosity.
What was their secret?
It wasn’t greater wealth.
It was greater surrender.
Paul wrote, “They… did even more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord”(2 Corinthians 8:5, NLT).
That one sentence changes everything.
The widow and the Macedonian believers weren’t generous because they had extra money. They were generous because they had first surrendered themselves to the Lord. Their giving simply revealed where their hearts already belonged.
The same is true for us. God isn’t first seeking your money; He wants you. When you first give yourself to the Lord, generosity becomes more than an occasional act—it becomes the natural expression of a surrendered life. Faithful giving isn’t measured by what’s left after vacations, hobbies, or other priorities are paid for. It reveals that Christ remains first even when competing demands pull at your budget. A surrendered heart naturally produces generosity because it trusts God to provide.
Today, as you enjoy the blessings God has given you this summer, let your giving reflect the heart you’ve already given to Christ. Remain faithful to the commitments you’ve made to your church and Christ-centered ministries. God’s work doesn’t pause for the summer, and neither does a surrendered heart.
