How God Responds to My Generosity

In 2 Corinthians 9:8 it says, “God is able to make it up to you by giving you everything you need and more so that there will not only be enough for your own needs but plenty left over to give joyfully to others.” (TLB)

I heard a story about a man who took his son to McDonald’s and bought him super-size French fries. On the way home, he reached over and took one little French fry and ate it. His son got upset and said, “Dad, you can’t have that. These are my fries!” The dad immediately had three thoughts: 

“First, my child has forgotten that I am the source of all fries. I took him to McDonald’s, I paid for the order, I gave them to him, and I’m driving him back home. The only reason he got any fries was because of me, the Great Fry Giver! 

“Second, my child doesn’t realize I could take the fries away in a second if I wanted to. Or I could buy him an entire truckload of fries if I wanted to, because I have the power to do either.

“Third, I didn’t need his fries. I could easily get my own. I could buy myself a hundred cartons of them if I wanted to. I just wanted him to learn to be unselfish.”

Those three lessons are the same ones God wants me to learn so that I can be generous with others. First, God wants me to remember that he is the source of everything I’ve have. I would have nothing—I wouldn’t even be alive!—if it weren’t for God. Second, God could take it all away from me in an instant, or he could double it, because he’s got the power. Third, God doesn’t need my money. He just wants me to learn to be unselfish and develop my faith. 

2 Corinthians tells me what will happen when I start becoming a more generous person, “God is able to make it up to you by giving you everything you need and more so that there will not only be enough for your own needs but plenty left over to give joyfully to others” (2 Corinthians 9:8 TLB).

If I practice generosity, God will give me everything I need plus more so I’ll have enough to share with others. He’s looking for a channel like a straw, and when he finds it—someone who’s willing to say, “God, use me to be a blessing to other people”—he just starts pouring blessing straight through it. 

If I learn to be generous, God will bless me more than I can imagine!