Generosity doesn’t always mean spending money. We believe living out ordinary Christian virtues in generous ways can truly change the world. This summer, we encourage you to be generous with your forgiveness, encouragement, hospitality, and apologies.
Below, you’ll have the opportunity to read other people’s stories about how their generosity made a difference in their own hearts.
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More than 2 decades ago, my precious sister and I had a “Significant Parting of Ways”…
Since, our relationship has never recovered. God so utilized the message on apologies to help to bring healing to that relationship. We had a lengthy conversation where I offered a long overdue apology.
I was dumbfounded to hear how well-received that was… It’s a new place in a relationship to begin!
I am beyond any measure of gratitude they got so stirred in my heart that way!
I was under more stress than normal and began overreacting to my teenager’s bad behavior frequently. I had the opportunity to apologize for yelling at them. I followed up with telling them that I’m not always strong enough to be the Christian I know I am supposed to be, but I’m going to try harder. I sincerely apologized for the sake of apologizing, but doing so really diffused the tension between us! They really stopped being so stubborn toward me! I’m glad God gave me the opportunity to demonstrate apologizing to them, and know we are a better family because of it.
When we were newly returned missionaries from China, we bought our first house with four kids and barely had any money. Our first summer back, someone snuck $200 into our mailbox (glad the mail carrier left it there!), and someone else gifted us a van to accommodate our whole family. These kind acts of giving and encouragement impacted us so much. We have tried to meet needs in the church and in our neighborhood whenever they arise. We have rallied the neighborhood to raise thousands of dollars to support a family whose house burned down just four houses down the street from our own. We have opened our home for annual block parties and Christmas parties. We have been given so much, we simply want to freely give. All that we have is His. We simply want to use it as He asks us.
My husband, son and I have known the beautiful gift of strangers becoming family. This sermon series framed these previous experiences in light of the gospel and clarified the ongoing call we all have to pursue this type of relational generosity as followers of Christ. I’m hopeful for a growing number of strangers turned family members in the years to come!
One of the most impactful aspects of God’s forgiveness of me through Christ is expressed in Romans 5:8: “…God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Before I could ask for forgiveness, the price of forgiveness was paid. God made the first move. This life-changing truth, this radically generous forgiveness through Christ, has allowed me to show forgiveness to others, at times even before forgiveness was sought. The ability to make the first move in extending forgiveness is possible only because of the supernaturally generous nature of Christ in me.
It was good to be reminded that forgiveness isn’t a one-and-done thing. It’s a constant surrender to let go of past hurts and to move further into God’s love and grace for me. I’m thankful for the reminder and the challenge to continuously choose to soften my heart towards those who have hurt me, which in turn, moves me closer to Jesus- and that’s the very best place to be.
Being generous with forgiveness is really hard for me, particularly when it involves deep hurt from the past that has me wanting to “revoke” my forgiveness and settle back into an attitude of anger, bitterness, and resentment. But I’ve found that a rhythm of forgiveness – committing in the Holy Spirit’s power to forgive for the same thing again and again when my sinful heart desires otherwise – is life-changing. It restores proper perspective by reminding me that whatever hurt I’ve sustained pales in comparison to the weight of my sin before God. If I’m forgiven all of my sins in Jesus, I can – in God’s power – extend forgiveness to others, too.
Generosity always reminds me of how faithful God is. When I do something kind for someone else, it comes from a place of overflow from God’s generosity towards me. I would be nothing without Him and if I can give someone else a glimpse of God’s character through my words and actions, it is always worth it.
I learned that forgiving someone that hurts us is not for the offender’s sake but for our own sake. We forgive to release that internal pain and heaviness that chains us to that who has hurt us. Once I learned about that and applied it to a situation in my life that was hard for me to forgive, I was able to forgive and lay it all onto the foot of the cross and be free and full of peace! Reminds me of the grace extended through Christ for the hurts I’ve done against our perfect God!
I’m so thankful for the grace and forgiveness that Jesus has given to me. Seeing others forgive me is also such an amazing reminder of what Jesus did for me on the cross. I’m so thankful that I can lean on Jesus and look to Him to show other’s grace. Truly thankful for the generosity that He has shown me!
Being generous with forgiveness has caused my heart to soften and helped me to remember how much I have been forgiven for. When I look at the magnitude of Jesus’ sacrifice for me, it helps drive me to be more humble and willing to extend forgiveness to those who have wronged me.