2. Growing In Generosity Then he looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and he saw also a certain poor window putting in two mites. So he said, ‘Truly I say to you that this poor window has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty has put in all the livelihood that she had.” LUKE 21:1-4 Jesus praises this window, not for giving away so much, but for keeping so little. Many people would call her foolish for giving away everything, but Jesus holds her up as an example of a truly generous giver, Jesus seems to measure generosity not by the amount we give, but by amount we keep!
12. The Remedy For Greed Humans tend to be very self-centered. The world s full of people who are trying to accumulate everything they possibly can This cycle of greed is broken in a person’s life when he discovers the joy of investing in others. A person is either “self-centered” or “others-centered”. A Christian becomes others-centered when he becomes Christ-centered. The Christ- controlled person will be passionate in his commitment to be like his Lord. He will become a generous person. Generosity will break the power of greed in his life.
13. Two Rich Men In Luke, Chapter 18, we read an account of a rich young man who approached Jesus with a question about eternal life. The advice from Jesus seemed quite radical: Sell all you possess and give it to the poor, then come and follow Me. Jesus knew this man was possessed by greed. Notice his journey: He wisely came to Jesus with a question. Jesus provided the answer to his question. Greed prevented him from making the commitment desperately needed to make. He held tightly to what he had and forfeited the greater gift that could have been his. Earthly possessions were more important to him than eternal life.
