4 Principles of Generosity from Proverbs

In John 3:16, one of the world’s most beloved Bible verses, we are told that because God so loved the world, He gave us His Son. Not only does this tell us about the high price that God was willing to pay for our salvation, but it also confirms that God is known by his generosity. His response to love is manifested in generosity.

As God’s people, we are called to be generous too. In fact, we should be known everywhere for our charitable hospitality. And this expectation did not begin in the New Testament; centuries before the birth of Christ, God’s people were instructed to live generously.

To help wrap your mind around the importance of giving, here are four generosity principles from the book of Proverbs.

1. Generosity is the path to blessing.

One person gives freely, yet gains even more;

    another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

A generous person will prosper;

    whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

—Proverbs 11:24–25

Scripture is full of promises that our generosity will be returned to us. So much so that this promise has, at times, been used by unscrupulous leaders to fleece naïve Christians. But Scripture does not educate us about generosity in order to make us rich; it teaches us what kind of lives God rewards.

Stingy and greedy people naturally see the world as a pie—there are only so many pieces to go around. If they give away what they have, they will have less. They try to hoard what they have to protect it. Generous people see the world through a lens of anticipation rather than scarcity. They take care of others and naturally assume that they will be taken care of as well.

God may bless both kinds of people. But the greedy would never recognize it.

2. The generous lend to the Lord.

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,

    and he will reward them for what they have done.

—Proverbs 19:17

How generous would you be if you truly believed that your generosity put the Lord in your debt? That is exactly what the author of this Proverb is telling us. Our kindness to the poor is a loan to God. It is truly an outrageous idea.

The principle we should draw from this proverb is that true generosity takes faith. We truly need to believe Jesus when he said, “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done” (Revelation 22:12).

3. We need generous ears.

Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor

    will also cry out and not be answered.

—Proverbs 21:13

We’ve seen that the Lord blesses those who are generous, but here we are told that the flip side is also true. When we intentionally ignore the needs of the poor, that gets returned to us as well. This warning is intended to drive home the gravity of ignoring others’ needs.

Think about it this way: God’s blessings are distributed through the generous obedience of His servants. When we deliberately ignore the cries of those in need, we frustrate God’s economy of care, and He has to go elsewhere to meet that need.

4. The righteous care about the poor.

The righteous care about justice for the poor,

    but the wicked have no such concern.

—Proverbs 29:7

We can’t be in an intimate relationship with God without sharing His concerns. That’s why the righteous are not simply concerned about the poor as an abstract idea—they are burdened with justice for the poor.

Adversely, the wicked have no such concerns. They are only interested in themselves and what is going to affect them. The writer of Proverbs said it this way: “Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand all things” (Proverbs 28:5).

We care about those in need.

When you think about people in need, whom do you picture? Most people do not consider pastors or missionaries who have served their entire lives and are now trying to care for themselves on a meager pension.

Kairos Benevolence Fund exists to help support these faithful servants during times of financial crises when they have nowhere else to turn. Through the generous giving of people like you, the Kairos Benevolence Fund is able to honor them by filling in the financial gaps so that they do not have to choose between medicine or groceries.