By Steve Gahagen

One of the marks of living a great story is the gift of generosity. Generous people see the richness of life and make their lives about blessing and breathing life into others. When we are generous, we feel wealthy whether we are rich or poor. There is something fun about giving. 

We can be generous with money, time, or hospitality. My wife and I once opened our home to a young adult who was struggling to find her way. She stayed with us for eighteen months. It was sometimes inconvenient, but we were grateful we could share our home with her. 

When we at Play to Your Strengths are teaching young people about their strengths, we often get them involved in projects where they have the opportunity to serve and give to others. A few times we took students door to door and did reverse trick or treating - giving stuff away. Many adults didn’t know how to respond to a free gift of generosity. 

Henry Nouwen writes, “Every time I step in the direction of generosity I know that I am moving from fear to love.”

Someone was cautioned by a colleague that he was spending too much of his time serving and giving. His gentle but honest response was, “I wonder if you’ll say that after I’m dead.” 

I’ve been at a lot of funerals and I’ve never heard someone say about the deceased, “She gave too much away. Or, he should have held on to more stuff. What was he thinking?” 

Questions to Consider:

1. Share a time when someone demonstrated generosity toward you.

2. Why does generosity contribute to a greater sense of well-being in life? 

3. How could you model generosity this week? Try to do three generous acts of kindness.