Generosity begins with gratitude, is sustained by gratitude, and ends with gratitude.
Gratitude is a state of being not a state of having.
I will not allow when I want will not rob me of what I have.
Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
Ecclesiastes 6:9 NLT
Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:11-13 NLT
2. Gratitude honors the God of all that is good.
Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. James 1:17 NLT
Gratitude trains our brains to trust that God is good. Honest and active generosity flows from a heart of gratitude for a God whom is completely, constantly and unchangeably good.
Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. 5 He fills my life with good things…. Psalm 103:2-5 NLT
As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. 12 As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, 13 crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. 15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” 16 He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” Luke 17:11-18 NLT
Nothing teaches character better than gratitude.
Group Discussion Questions
1. What’s the most gratitude you can remember feeling?
2. If someone offered you a million dollars with the guarantee that your heart would be ungrateful, would you accept it? Why?
3. In the story that Luke tells in Luke 17 about the leper that returned to thank Jesus, other than the obvious, he returned, what distinguishes him from the others?
4. What’s the connection between gratitude and generosity?
