Generosity

Romans 8:31-34

Kathy Zimmerman

During the Great Depression my grandfather was responsible for a household that included his wife, sister and fourteen children. They lived on a small farm in central Virginia, and the house of the nearest neighbor was about a half mile away. I never got to meet my grandfather, but through my mother, I feel like I got to know him. She has often told me how he would tell his family “If God is for us, who then can be against us? With a God so generous with his love that he would give his only son to die that we might be saved, surely there is no force that we need fear.” My mother has also told me about the challenges of growing up during a depression, and with fondness she relays how they rose to meet those challenges. In particular, she likes to recall how the people in her rural community helped each other, always generous with their time and their possessions. If one neighbor was down or sick and couldn’t bring in his crops, the other neighbors were there to help, even though they had to bring in their own crop as well. And all of this was at a time absent modern conveniences like dry cleaners, cell phones, carry-out restaurants and microwave ovens.

In Romans 8:31-34, Paul reminds us of the greatest generosity ever known, a father’s sacrifice of his heavenly son to save his earthly children. I don’t know how we could ever match the love of God, but certainly it would be pleasing to him if we showed the same generosity to our neighbors as our relatives did in harder times than we have now.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, please help those with plenty to be generous with those who are in need. Amen.