How Giving Changes You

God asks us to be generous because He knows giving will help us become the people He wants us to be.

Anything you do on a repeated basis will gradually make you into a different person. That’s’ why God wants you to be generous — because He understands how giving changes you.

Giving is an incredibly important part of the Christian faith. It’s a mandate from Christ and it demonstrates the authenticity of our faith. It gets God’s attention and causes people here on earth to glorify Him.

The Bible promises that when we give, it changes our future. It brings us prosperity. We reap what we sow.

But the principle behind generosity and prosperity is often misunderstood. How does giving money away cause you to prosper? How does it change the course of your future?

The answer is simpler than you may think. To understand how giving changes your future, just think about how giving changes you.

Generosity and Selfishness

The Bible talks a lot about the benefits of giving. Today, let’s look at verse you may not have considered before. Proverbs 11:24 draws a contrasting picture between the outcomes of generosity and selfishness:

One person gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

This verse teaches us a principle that is both simple and profound: The more you give, the more likely you are to receive. If you’re stingy with what you have, though, you might lose the possessions you value most.

How does this work?

Many of us imagine that God sits in heaven watching our every move. If we do good things, we expect God to send us good things in return. If we do wrong, we expect Him to punish us for them.

It’s true that God sees everything that we do, and His favor rests on those who do His will. But the Bible doesn’t show us a God who watches us from heaven to hand out rewards and punishments. Instead, it tells us, God loves us all and wants good things for all of us.

A Level Playing Field

To use a sports analogy, God is not a referee who calls fouls or awards bonus points. He gave us all the rules of the game, and turns us loose on an even playing field. We all make different decisions, and the outcomes of those decisions impact the world around us.

So what does this mean about generosity and selfishness? God doesn’t watch from heaven to decide whether to send blessing or trouble your way. Instead, He has built the universe in such a way that generosity causes growth, while selfishness causes lack.

Here’s the secret to the whole thing: Giving changes your future because giving changes you.

Giving Makes Your World Bigger

Generous people are fun to be around. If you’re generous with your treasure, you’re likely to be generous with your time and talents as well.

Giving makes people like you. And when people like you, they respond to you well. They think of you when opportunities come along. And they repay the kindness that you have shown them.

When you give, it makes your world bigger. Everyone benefits from a bigger world, and that’s a significant part of how giving changes you.

Selfishness, on the other hand, only makes your world smaller. The more you mistreat people, the less likely they are to continue being part of your life. A stingy hand is a closed hand, and a selfish life is a closed life.

The smaller your life gets, the fewer people are willing to help you. Selfishness changes your future because it changes you.

Growing a Generous Heart

Every time you come to a financial crossroads, you have a decision to make: “Am I going to be generous or selfish?”

Each time you chose to be selfish, you make your world a little bit smaller. You make yourself a little bit smaller. And you make your future a little bit darker.

Generosity is the exact opposite. Each time you choose to give, you make yourself a little bit more generous. You make your world a little bit bigger. You make your heart a little bit bigger. That’s how giving changes you.

In the end, the state of your heart is what really determines you future, both in this life and the next. Giving changes your future because it changes your heart.