I think it was late 2017 when God fully caught my attention about generosity. It’s not that I wasn’t giving before that, but I hadn’t really got it. As I listened to a pastor in a conference in England the Holy Spirit rested on me in a new kind of way. I had been in crazy pentecostal moments and had felt the power of the Spirit in other ways but this was different. From that day I have changed, and am continuing to change, my view to my stuff. It may not be a linear journey but I are journeying.

I have always been fascinated when I read verses around generosity in the Scriptures and the other day I was reading this in 1 Corinthians, a letter written to a community by the apostle Paul.

On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 1 Corinthians 16:2 (NIV)

I love this short verse for a few reasons

The First day – I remember learning something at that conference that I hadn’t seen before. I always thought it was about how much I gave but I’d never realised that when I gave was also important. Traditionally in Scripture it was the ‘first fruits’ that were given. The whole concept was that you gave to God before the rest of the harvest had been brought in. It wasn’t a case of waiting until you have seen how much you have and then giving from that, you gave before you knew you would be OK because you trusted God with the rest.

In Keeping with your income – Generosity isn’t measured by the final amount that you give but by what you are giving in relation to what you have. We famously see this in the scripture when the widow gives her two coins and Jesus recognises her generosity. Even though others were putting bigger amounts into the offering what she gave relative to her income was more generous.

Save it up so no collections have to be made – There wasn’t yet a structure in Corinth to collect the gifts but Paul was still encouraging the people to be generous and get ready for a time when they were able to physically give. Too often in the modern day church we only give when the opportunity arises rather than preparing for it whether or not we have the chance.

If we are following Jesus we are called to be a generous people and learn to view our stuff as a gift from God so that we can grow in generosity. We must surrender and continue to lay down our rights in this area.