What Does the Bible Say About Generosity? Gratitude With Its Hands Open

Scripture keeps a consistent order when it talks about generosity: first what you have received, then what you give. That order is itself the argument.

The saying that appears in no gospel

Acts 20:35 has Paul quoting Jesus: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Worth noticing: the line appears nowhere in the four Gospels. Paul is passing it on, and it is one of the few sayings of Jesus preserved outside them.

Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.Acts 20:35 (KJV)

The widow's two mites

Mark 12:41-44: Jesus sits opposite the treasury and watches how people give. Rich people put in much; a poor widow puts in two mites.

His assessment overturns the arithmetic: "this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury."

The reason follows: "they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had."

What was measured is not the amount given but the amount left. A hard standard, but at least a clear one.

Paul's method when raising money

2 Corinthians 8-9 is the longest passage on giving in the New Testament. Paul never names a figure anywhere in it.

He uses three steps:

1. An example. The Macedonian churches, whose "deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality" (8:2).
2. Point at Christ. "Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor" (8:9).
3. Hand the decision back. "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity" (9:7).

He shows people what they have received, then lets them decide.

Why this belongs to gratitude

Someone who genuinely registers how much they have received holds things more loosely.

The reverse holds too: the more a person believes everything in their hands was earned by them, the harder it is to open the hand.

1 Timothy 6:17-18 connects the two directly: first "trust not in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy", and only then "that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate". Source first, giving second.

It is not only money

Romans 12:13 — "distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality" — and hospitality then meant opening your actual house and table.

Hebrews 13:16: "But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Doing good and sharing are set together, and both counted as sacrifice.

A practical starting point

If you do not know where to begin, use Paul's order: spend five minutes counting what you have received this year, then decide what to give. Reversed, the giving always looks like too much.

Read Mark 12:41-44 and 2 Corinthians 9 in the BiblePro app. And do look for a local church to read alongside others.