How We Learned the Power of Generosity
In my case, it was actually the opposite. When my wife and I moved from Arizona to California five years ago with her family we were so excited for a fresh start at life. Some family friends had offered us a place to stay and to help us get settled in and so we felt very comfortable leaving everything behind. That all changed when we arrived at their doorstep. The shocked look on their faces was less than comforting and when all the promises they had made fell short we realized that we were in for a difficult journey.
Since the house that they had told us we would be able to rent ended up not being available, we stayed with them until we could figure out something else. They didn’t seem as enthusiastic as they had when they invited us to come. Seven of us were stuck in a guest bedroom. I was able to sleep on the couch at first, but later they told us that we were ruining the furniture. We couldn’t sit at the table because they didn’t want us to scratch it. Cooking meals was impossible since they didn’t want us to use their kitchen. Then they put limits on the use of the bathroom and wouldn’t give us a key to the house so we felt more like prisoners than guests.
We had realized that we weren’t welcome, nor wanted, by the lack of hospitality, but we were alone in a new city and struggled to find our way. The last straw came when my eight year-old sister-in-law was taking a shower and they turned off the water, claiming that the city only allowed a certain amount of daily usage. We had had it. I drove down the block and found the first apartment complex with a vacancy sign and signed a lease.
Obviously, this wasn’t an experience of generosity, but the reason I share it is because by going through this difficult situation we learned the importance of hospitality and generosity.
Defining Charity and It’s Link to Generosity
Often times we think of generosity in financial terms, but it is so much more than that. We usually call it charity, but charity isn’t just giving money to a “good cause” although that’s how most of us have come to know it. Charity is an expression of love—from the latin caritas—a virtue through which we receive God’s love and let it overflow into the lives of those around us, especially those most in need.
“So faith, hope, charity remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is charity.”
Of course a generous person is generous with their money, but they are generous in all aspects of their life. Catholics use the word stewardship to explain it more deeply—being generous with the gifts God gives us by sharing them with others, specifically our time, talents, and treasure. It goes even deeper than that in the person of Jesus Christ, who gave all of Himself, to suffer and die on a cross. His sacrifice was the ultimate expression of charity, of generosity, he gave not just his time or talents, not just his material possessions, but the most precious gift He could give—Himself.
Generosity requires a certain level of selflessness that is uncommon in our individualistic culture. It is rare to experience selflessness these days—that’s why I think TV shows like Secret Millionaire, Undercover Boss, and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition are such great witnesses of generosity. Christianity is based around the idea of selflessness, the virtue of generosity, most beautifully on display in the sacrifice of God-become-man, Jesus.
The Transformative Power of Generosity
For most of us to become truly generous requires more than just following this precious example, but the presence of this Jesus in our lives. It is His love active in our lives that transforms us and allows us, challenges us, to love generously. In my case, the not-so-nice experience I mentioned above is what taught my wife and I a lesson in generosity. So when we became aware of a family member in need of a place to stay—a pregnant cousin in her late teens and her boyfriend who had been evicted—we felt more than willing to invite them to stay with us.
They have been with us for a few weeks and although it’s not easy to live with three different families in one house, we have come to see it as an opportunity to express our generosity. We have done all that we can to make sure that they feel at home and helping them in the job and apartment search to help them get back on their feet. If we, not only as family, but as Christians don’t reach out to those in need, then who will. We’ve been in their shoes. We’ve been the “least” and it’s difficult.
“Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
We pray that our generosity may in some way shed a little of the light of Christ, the love of God, into their lives. We are thankful that God has allowed us to suffer so that we understand the needs of others. We have been transformed by His generosity and it’s a blessing to be able to share that.