Biblical Wisdom Valued Generosity Over Hoarding Riches

For many years, our family has spent Christmas day passing out blessing bags. After we do our Christmas morning stockings and gifts, we pack bags with things that we hope will be useful to people currently experiencing homelessness. The bags include socks, mittens, warm hats, scarves, toiletries, nonperishable snacks and a McDonald’s gift card.

After packing our gifts, we head out to distribute the bags to people we see as we drive around. The bags aren’t fancy, the gifts aren’t big or lavish, but we enjoy passing them out and having a few minutes to chat with the people who receive them.

One year, a gentleman asked if by any chance he could give us back the McDonald’s gift card and get some money for bus fare to Springfield where he was confident he might get a job. My husband gave him the money, and we let him keep the gift card.

I’ve noticed that often when we think of generosity, we feel a need to quantify it. There is a desire to know how much a person gives, and then to compare that to someone else or to our own giving. There can even be judgment about where a person gives or to whom. We tend to have a need to dictate what we give is being used in ways we deem appropriate.

So, when we shared the story of the man who wanted to go to Springfield and how we hoped that he had made it in time to get the job, several people were quick to tell us what a terrible decision it was to give the money. They said he was just going to use the money to buy alcohol or waste it in some way. The more I thought about those comments, the more I realized that I was less concerned with what he had done with the money than that it blessed him in some way. By not quizzing him for details or demanding assurance that he would purchase a bus ticket, I pray he felt some trust from us. And if he chose to use the money for something besides the bus ticket, I hope that whatever he bought brought him some joy, or at least peace.

You see our gifts aren’t given with anything in mind other than hopefully making someone feel good for a little while and reminding them that they are special and important. We aren’t expecting anything in return, but every year as we drive home, we find ourselves blessed much more than we blessed anyone else.

These people who receive the gifts express genuine gratitude. As we pull away from the bus stop or corners where we have stopped, we leave to shouts of “Merry Christmas” and “this is just what I needed.”

We aren’t wealthy people and what we give certainly pales in comparison to many, but I pray that God sees our heart and that in some small way our presents and our presence bless someone.

This Christmas, find some small way to give differently than you ever have-–purchase new coats for kids, drop off food at a food pantry, buy a bundle of mittens to donate to a partner school, purchase a supply of McDonald gift cards to keep in your car and pass out when you see someone who might be blessed by a warm meal, pay off school lunch balances, buy blankets to have on hand when you see someone living in the cold. You do you, but please, this holiday season, let your heart lead you to new and greater generosity. I promise you will be glad you did.