God Responds to Generosity

When you give to people in need, God takes notice

If you really want to get God’s attention, there’s no better way than by giving to people in need. Because God responds to generosity.

God cares deeply about the poor, and He wants His people to be about the business of taking care of them. There are all sorts of reasons to do this: It was mandated by Christ, and it is evidence of a living faith. If the love of God lives inside us, it compels us to give.

But in the book of Acts, we find another benefit of charitable giving: God responds to generosity.

More than Love

You may be thinking: “Doesn’t God love us all equally? Doesn’t He already see everything we do?”

Yes. God sees everything you do. And you can’t make Him love you any more or any less. But the Bible gives many examples of people doing things that elicit a response from God. Abraham was a friend of God. Enoch was taken up into heaven without dying because he walked so closely with the Lord. And God was so impressed with Job’s character that He bragged about Job to the devil.

God sees everything we do, but some of our actions move Him to respond in special ways. God responds to generosity. So if you need God to move in your life, a good place to start is by giving to others.

Living Like Cornelius

A great story in the book of Acts illustrates this principle. In Acts 10, we meet Cornelius, a well respected Roman who becomes the first Gentile to accept Jesus and join the young church. Let’s examine what verses 2-4 have to say about him:

2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.

The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.”

As this story continues, Cornelius meets the apostle Peter and becomes the first Gentile to put his faith in Christ. So why did God choose him?

In verse two, the writer says Cornelius “gave generously to those in need.” Later, in verse four, the angel explains to Cornelius that his giving has made an impression on heaven: “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.”

Cornelius drew the attention of heaven because God responds to generosity. Cornelius made a habit of giving to bless people in need, so God decided to bless him by giving him something even bigger.

When we give to people in need, we’re offering sacrifices to heaven. Those gifts get God’s attention. And they move His heart.

Giving in Your Life

So what does this mean for you?

First, if you struggle with generosity, this story should inspire you. God wants you involved in taking care of the poor and He will respond to your generosity when you do.

Here’s another thing we can take away: If you’re in the midst of a desperate situation, where you’re praying hard and really need God to move, maybe you should consider doing something to help someone else.

Sometimes in really difficult situations, we focus so much on our own problems that we forget about the problems of others. But when we intentionally give to and serve other people, it changes something in our attitudes. Our vision gets wider. And God responds to the generosity He sees in our lives.

Helping others changes your heart. And that heart change leads to breakthrough in other areas of life. Giving gets God’s attention because it changes us.

If you really need God to show up and help you, start by showing up to help someone else.