Can you waste generosity?

On this blog we talk alot about how you can be a generous mind and share what God has put in your heart. But what about those recieving the generosity? Can it be wasted on those who do not care or learn from what you share?

This is an easy question to grab on to because we always hear about being efficient and effective with our minsitry and our work. People tell us to focus our attention on where we will do the most good.

I am attending the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit and am asking this question because these speakers are giving everyone in attendance the ideas and insights from their heart. But are we as the audience wasting their generosity? Are we minimizing their great sacrifice?

As I have invested years in thinking about what makes being a generous mind so important, my answer has to be "NO!" But why? If I share something that is powerful and you ignore it, then didn't I waste my efforts?

Generosity has two equal parts to it. God is demanding that the giver be generous and the reciever accept the gift with humility and thankfulness. If you are on the stage at the Leadership Summit today or tomorrow, you are responsible to share what is on your heart as effectively as you can. That is what God expects from you. Nothing more.

We can easily complicate the scenario when we try to do God's job by working out how people will recieve what we have to share. But resist this temptation. Your job is to share generously those ideas that God has put on your heart. Let Him orchestrate the ah-ha moments. Many times you will find that your great idea lead someone to have a whole other insight that you could never have orchestrated anyway.

So don't worry about waste - give generously and expect God to do amazing things with your offering.

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