Extravagant Generosity is about generously giving of our very selves. Let’s see if the acronym HELP can help us understand and appreciate fully this.
Heed the compassion command. When Jesus was asked, “How should I live?” He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind [and] love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.” (Luke 10:27). Meister Eckhart once said, “You may call God love, you may call God goodness. But the best name for God is compassion.” We are never more like God than when we give.
Empty yourself so that you might be filled. Empty yourself of whatever it is that stands between you and being the loving person God is calling you to be. Jesus is our example. In Philippians 2, Paul reminds us of how Jesus emptied Himself. He made room for each of us in the kingdom of God through His offering of Himself to us and showed us how we are to live and how we are to die. When we live like that, we become more thoughtful, more caring, more compassionate, more loving people. That’s the consequence of emptying yourself so that the Holy Spirit may begin to fill you and make you more like Jesus.
Lift the burden of others. When we lift the burdens of others—whether they be health issues, the loss of loved ones, turmoil in the lives of members of the family, or emotional strain or others—a miracle occurs and our burdens are lifted as well. It means getting involved with someone else. It means making a sacrifice so that someone else can feel as though the love of Jesus Christ is extended to him or her. That’s the spirit we are called to have—to be like Jesus. He’s the One who is providing the strength for the burdens of life.
Pay the price. The world says to us: Earn all you can, and give out of your abundance. That’s not biblical. The Bible teaches us to give in order to enjoy the abundant life. “If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” (Matthew 16:25,) The life that overflows with joy is the life that gives itself away. God is calling us to be people who don’t hang on for all we’re worth out of fear but who give and give and give freely. And this giving flows as the love of God to other people.
When we hang on out of fear, we are operating out of a theology of scarcity: Will I have enough? We all have enough. It’s the people in all the impoverished places around the world who don’t have enough. It’s all a matter of where we look and what’s relative to us. Where do we stand in relation to other people, and how much is God asking us to give so that we might lift the burden of others by paying just a very small price?
Can we say to God, “God, whatever you gave me is yours in the first place. I came with nothing, and I’m leaving with nothing; and in between, whatever I have is yours. You’re just letting me use it”?
You see, it’s not about our money; it’s about what is in our hearts. For out of the abundance of the heart our lives speak (Matthew 12:34b). And out of our overwhelming sense of thankfulness comes our response to what God is calling us to do as the people of God. Try giving yourself away and see what miracles begin to happen! (STEVE VREDENBURGH)