Stunning is a word for sunsets, beautiful people, and works of art. It’s not an everyday word. It’s more than that. It’s the kind of beauty that arrests your attention and pulls you towards it. The kind that slows time down and makes you forget everything else.
Generosity is the language of a surprising gift. It’s more than you expect. A gift that goes above and beyond. One that wows you.
Could the words Stunning Generosity actually come together in our lives? Could we be givers of beautiful and surprising gifts? I believe God has made you to center your life on God and giving for these 10 reasons:
10 Benefits of Giving
1. Giving leads to joy and I want you to be really, really joyful.
2. Generosity paves the way for good relationships and I want you to have deep and meaningful connections with people.
3. Giving is about making a contribution and I want you to live a fruitful life.
4. Giving breaks the power wealth can have over us and I want you to be free from the lies and love of money.
5. Giving helps us choose God over money and I want you to love God more than anything.
6. Giving is his command and I want you to learn to obey God as a good father.
7. Giving shifts our focus to our true home and I want you to live for what’s going to last forever.
8. Giving is how we store up treasure where it will never be destroyed and I want you to have true and lasting riches.
9. Generosity opens the door to partnership with those who preach and teach God’s word and I want you to have the privilege of partnering to help others know Jesus.
10. Generosity is God’s true character and I want you to stun the world by showing them who God is.
God Sets the Tone
When we look in Scripture, we find God’s stunning generosity sets the tone. “He did not spare his own son but freely gave him up for us all.” (Romans 8:32) There’s nothing more surprising that God could have done. There’s no higher gift God could have given than his one and only son.
The gospel is the story of God’s stunning generosity. He does not give us what we deserve, but gives what we could never have thought to ask for. Jesus laid down his life for us, while we were yet sinners. He gave every drop of blood and his very last breath that we might be brought from death to life.
And by faith in Jesus, we become children of God. The more we see that the gospel is God’s generosity, the more we can pray, “Lord, make me like you. I want to bear the family resemblance.”
What If?
What if we can learn to give beautiful and surprising gifts that go above and beyond the ordinary and expected for the purpose of reflecting our generous God to the world?
If we get this, we’ll no longer ask, “How much do I have to give?” but instead “God, what do you want me to give?”
If we use our resources to glorify God and bless the world, people from every tribe and nation will praise God that someone gave to help them know God’s love for the first time.
If we begin to live lives of stunning generosity, we will find that this is the life that’s truly life. It’s what we were made for.
