Generosity

          readiness or liberality in giving; freedom from meanness or smallness of mind or character; largeness or fullness; amplitude; bountifulness; nobleness; magnanimity; fertile; prolific; open-handed, free; plentiful, copious; fruitful

          Luke 14:12-14 When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor; the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.


          Psalm 112:5-9
          A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.

          Proverbs 3:9-10
          Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

          Proverbs 14:21
          He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.

          Proverbs 28:27
          He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.

          Ecclesiastes 5:10,11
          He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?

          Isaiah 58:10,11
          And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

          Matthew 5:42
          Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

          Matthew 6:14
          For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

          Matthew 25:40
          And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

          Acts 20:35
          I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

          Romans 12:13
          Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

          Romans 15:1, 2, 5
          We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
          Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

          I Corinthians 10:24
          Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth.

          II Corinthians 9:6-7
          But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

          Galatians 5:13
          For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

          Galatians 6:2
          Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

          Galatians 6:10
          As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

          Ephesians 4:28
          Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

          Philippians 2:4
          Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

          James 2:15,16
          If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

          Biblical Examples of Generosity:

          Book of Ruth
          Proverbs 31 The virtuous woman
          Matthew 2:11 The Magi
          Luke 10:30-37 Good Samaritan
          Luke 21:1-4 Poor Widow
          Acts 2:44, 45; 4:32-37      Christians in Jerusalem
          Acts 9 36:-41 Dorcas
          Acts 28:10 People of Melita to Paul

      Stories on Generosity

            The Gift of the Magi - O. Henry

            The Selfish Giant - Oscar Wilde

            Robin Hood

            The Arrow and the Song - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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