40acts: The Lent Generosity ChallengeSample

Joy underpins generosity. Joyfulness doesn’t depend on your circumstances, your mood or whether you got a seat on your daily commute. It’s God-given, and with a bit of practice, you can feel it every day. Today, we’re looking at those generous acts that bring joy to you and others and making the effort to do them more. As a professional opera singer, I’m blessed to be able to see the effect the music I perform has on my audience. The Lord delights in giving to His people and, in turn, I find joy when I give. I believe that generous and cheerful giving changes our mindset. The more you do it, the happier and more joyful you become. God richly provides everything for our enjoyment. It isn’t His desire to withhold or diminish our pleasure. In fact, He wants us to experience true pleasure. He wants us to experience the joy of being rich in goodness and generosity. With this in mind, we find that giving joyfully of ourselves now is an investment in eternity. What an amazing thought! ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_____ Joy and generosity are inextricably linked. We’re encouraged to shout with joy, using our voices to worship the Lord. When we delight in God, joy comes as a natural consequence, and that joy expresses itself in our mood and in how we treat other people. 2 Corinthians 9:7–8 says ‘God loves a cheerful giver’ – if we read that verse in isolation it can be tempting to think that it means that all giving must be done with a smile on your face (has your pastor ever encouraged you to give ‘hilariously’ before?). Actually, this is more of an invitation to be creative with our generosity. It's far easier to give what we have decided to give rather than what we feel forced to give. And since we’re deciding what to give, we can decide how we’d like to give it too! There’s no reason our generosity shouldn’t be creative or well thought out. If we are willing to give, then let’s be joyful as we think of creative ways to bless those around us! Find more about today’s 40acts challenge on our blog: [ https://40acts.org.uk/ act-7-joyful-joyful / ](https://40acts.org.uk/act-7-joyful-joyful/)