A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Proverbs 11:25
Today’s Scripture
Proverbs 11:24-31
Listen to Today’s Devotional
Today’s Devotional
An auditorium full of medical students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine listened intently as ninety-year-old Ruth Gottesman spoke. As she concluded, Ruth announced—to the students’ gasps, cheers, and pandemonium—that she was donating $1 billion so they could finish their education tuition free. This is the largest donation ever given to a medical school. Yet in the interviews that followed, you would have thought that Gottesman was the one receiving the gift. She expressed joy, delight, and honor to be able to give her money away.
Proverbs tells us that this is how generosity works. The one who “gives freely,” far from being left diminished or bereft, finds blessings they hadn’t anticipated (11:24). When we open our hands to others, we’re left with something more—not less. “Whoever refreshes,” Scripture says, “will be refreshed” (v. 25). We’re often tempted to tightly grip whatever we have, fearful that we’ll be taken advantage of or left with nothing. God’s economy works differently, however. Jesus went a step further, stating that it’s “more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
We can be generous with our lives and our resources, offering what we have to others in need. And then, in return we’ll find that we end up receiving too. There’s plenty for everyone in God’s kingdom.
Reflect & Pray
How has giving to others blessed you? Where might God be asking you to be more generous?
Dear God, please help me to be generous like You, and trust that I’ll have all I need.
For further study, read The Fool’s Greed and God’s Generosity.
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