Photo by Nora Hutton on Unsplash
By Mike Chaffin
If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment. Job 36:11
Greed is a hardening of the heart toward others. It removes our desire to help with a selfish desire for more. The virtue Christ bestows on His children to defeat greed is contentment. This virtue is also called generosity and liberality.
In His way Jesus spoke about generosity and liberality in the sermon on the mount when he said,
41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. Matthew 5:41-42
As a follower of Christ, generosity and liberality are directed by our contentment in Christ. He is all sufficient to meet our every need. Our generosity is how God can meet someone else’s need. One winter our church had a coat drive to supply coats to the homeless and those in need. I realized I had a closet full of coats, many that I might only wear once a year. It was the best feeling giving many coats away, and I got the added benefit of a cleaner closet.
Paul wrote,
Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 1 Timothy 6:6-7
Contentment is one of the greatest virtues Christ gives us. It requires faith to be content and as we exercise our faith in Christ, faith grows, and we see the goodness of God in new ways. Past devotionals point out vices work together to derail us, and end in condemnation. Virtues multiply in us when we come close to Christ and bring blessing. We can’t come to close to Christ without becoming Christlike. He exhibited every virtue, and we are filled with His virtues when the Holy Spirit resides in us.
The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good rewarded for theirs. Proverbs 14:14
As Paul famously stated in 2 Corinthians 9:7, God loves a cheerful giver. He adds it is in our heart we decide how generous to be. Contentment follows when we understand we are blessed to be a blessing.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to give with generosity of heart. In liberality help me to bless others as you have blessed me. Please defeat any miserly thoughts I might have. In Jesus’ name, amen.
