Generosity is a Way of Life

Speaking of being a generous person, I often hear, I’ll be generous when. I actually don’t really hear that but I can honestly say, I know that’s what a lot of people think even if they don’t say it. It’s written all over their lives. I’ll be more generous when I get a little more ahead. Next year. But next year never seems to arrive. What if I told you that the Bible makes a case for those of us with means to adopt to a simpler way of life, not a more complicated one. Oh, don’t get me wrong, you can do as you please and please enjoy what you have, by all means. But also keep in mind where your life is leading to. It’s the long game. Annie Dillard once said, and I am paraphrasing since I can’t find the quote, something to the effect that the decisions and small choices you make every day make up the life that you end up living. Oh that’s good. Most people want a different outcome from their choices. We do one thing and want something entirely different to materialize from it. How obviously irrational. How do I know this? I see it every day. That’s why Paul says in I Timothy 6:6-10 and in 16-19 that the life we end up living, which always includes our money, is the life we choose. Chose wisely the kind of life you would have liked to have lived. This involves making some serious choices with money.