Generosity is progressive. It begins with the basics, giving the first and best and giving regularly, making it a part of your routine. Then it proceeds to an understanding of proportionality, giving according to the level at which God has blessed you materially.

We can give in a way that does not affect us. Our lifestyle is not impacted, our plans are not altered, and we can still buy everything we were going to buy anyway. That still counts as giving—and can still be considered “generous”— but it is not sacrificial.

When we give generously, it cost us something. There usually is a sacrifice, no matter the size.

But even more significant is the heart behind the gift. Generosity is shaped by a special intertwining of sacrifice and worship. That is why generosity is so genius. It is about our love for God. It reaches deeper and deeper into our lives, reflecting a maturing and joyful relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Sacrificial giving should not arise from a knee-jerk reaction to a big need or a response to pressure. You need to give instinctively, randomly as led by the Spirit, knowing that all belongs to Him and that you are only a vehicle through which resources flow.

We will never be able to understand true covenant if we do not understand sacrifice. Nowhere in the Bible do we have any form of covenant with God if there was not a sacrifice first! Jesus sacrificed his own life; God sacrificed his own son! Only after the sacrifice, we come to know God’s covenant. Of course, this sacrifice can take many forms, not only in giving. It can also relate to being humble, saying sorry etc.

One of the greatest messages also given in the Bible is that God is man’s supply!

You will discover that you cannot be separated from God, the giver, therefore you cannot be separated from God, the Gift. Any Gift is God in Action! Every blessing is God in action.

This type of loving generosity was on grand display in the New Testament. Paul wrote quite a bit about how generous certain churches were, not to impress anyone but to spur others on to greater devotion. In 2 Corinthians 8-9, he showcased the sacrificial giving of the Macedonian churches.

Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints (2 Corinthians 8:2-4).

Life was hard for these churches in Macedonia. They were in “extreme poverty.” But they heard about their Jewish brothers who were suffering from a famine, and they wanted to give. No one coerced them or made them feel guilty. They voluntarily made sacrifices, and they considered it a privilege.

These believers, who did not have much, gave to other believers who had even less. It cost them something; they put themselves at risk. That is a great picture of real generosity and sacrifice.

You can only be a sacrificial giver if you see “your” possessions as God’s and hold them loosely.

It is a way of life.