Student Leadership 301: GenerositySample

Day 1 

Gen·er·ous: showing a readiness to give more of something than is necessary or expected.

When you hear the word “generosity” chances are your mind goes to money. Most people believe that having a generous spirit means giving away a certain dollar amount. But generosity doesn’t begin with our money — it begins with our mentality and generosity can come in many forms. It can look like volunteering your time, or sharing your expertise and resources. It could even look like giving a compliment or your undivided attention to somebody. You don’t have to be rich to be generous.

To be generous simply means to give more of something than what was originally expected.

Proverbs 11:25 (NIV) says, “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”

It makes sense if you think about it. When was the last time you did something good for someone else? Do you remember how you felt afterwards? You felt good, right? Lighter, even.

Now, this doesn’t mean that by being generous you’ll suddenly win a bunch of money and become rich. As Mark Batterson says, “God doesn’t bless us to raise our standard of living. He blesses us to raise our standard of giving.” When we give more, we get more to give away — more peace, more joy, more faith, and more opportunities to be generous! 

Throughout Scripture, we’re encouraged to be generous, but what does generosity look like from God’s perspective? That’s what we’re going to be digging into for the next few days as we study a woman whose generosity touched the heart of Jesus. 

Would you call yourself a generous person?  When was the last time you went above and beyond to bless someone? Who in your life needs to be refreshed? Spend some time in prayer and ask God to show you where you can give more than what’s expected right now to help meet the needs of those around you.