GENEROUS HEARTS ARE BLESSED (3)

“If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in darkness...” – Isaiah 58:10a

GENEROUS HEARTS are BLESSED in all dimensions of life: “If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday” (Isa.58:10). This passage describes God’s acceptable kind of fasting; one that is undergirded with a heart of generosity. Such genuine generosity is rewarded with well-rounded spiritual, emotional, and physical blessings, including divine illumination, God’s presence, protection, guidance, health, strength, answered prayers, and unending refreshing: “Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.…The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail” (v.8,11).

These are more than enough motivations for us to cherish generosity. Here are additional reasons:

Generosity fuels Joy and Happiness: Good feelings are reflected in our biology. Research confirms that when we show generosity, it triggers areas of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection and trust, creating a ‘warm glow’ effect. It was found that participants’ spirits were lifted more through giving money to someone else, despite their expectation that they would feel better receiving. 

Generosity enhances health: Giving is good for our health. Reports have shown that giving to others have improved people’s health, particularly those suffering with chronic illness. Researchers suggest that the main reason giving can help to improve physical health and longevity is because it helps to decrease stress which is linked to health issues. A study on elderly couples found that those who provided practical help or emotional support to friends, relatives, spouses or neighbours, had a much lower risk of dying over a five-year period than those who didn’t help at all. Interestingly, receiving help was not linked to a reduced death risk. 

Generosity connects: Giving helps social interaction. When we share with others, our generosity is likely to be reciprocated down the line at some point, sometimes to the person we gave to or someone else. Moreover, generosity makes us feel closer to those we give to as well as them feel closer to us. Being caring and generous leads us to perceive others more positively, which fosters a heightened sense of interdependence and cooperation in our community.

Generosity arouses gratitude: Generosity can be a way of evoking or instilling gratitude, whether we are on the giving or receiving end. Such thankfulness is essential to happiness, health and social bonds. For example, when we express gratitude in words and actions, we boost other people’s enthusiasm for life as well as ours. Cultivating gratitude in everyday life is a vital key to increasing personal fulfilment.

Generosity is contagious: Sharing with or giving to others can create a ripple effect and encourage others to do the same consequently increasing generosity all around. A study showed that observers of generosity were encouraged to be generous later, toward different people. Consequently, each person in a network can influence dozens or even hundreds of people, some of whom he or she has not met. 

Generosity is giving from the heart; giving of ourselves through our demonstration of love, compassion and kindness. It is more than our material possessions; it involves sharing our God-given time, talents, and treasures. Generosity does require diligence and practice. We must become intentional in our giving or we might miss opportunities to be generous. God would have us cultivate the same generous heart that He has, such that we can give as freely and open-heartedly as He gave. Giving reflects His grace in our hearts and draws us closer to Him. But no matter how far we progress in the Grace of Giving, Jesus Christ remains the unrivalled Giver who left the wealth of heaven to make the supreme sacrifice to deliver us from eternal poverty and grant us eternal riches!