I was with a friend this week who spoke of the generosity of God. “In this life,” he said, “there are two kinds of people. There are givers and takers. God is the greatest giver of all. We need to talk more about the generosity of God.”

My friend was absolutely right, and his words lodged in my heart and have remained there as a blessing during this Christmas season.

God was so generous toward us that He willingly gave His only Son to be our Savior. It meant that His Son would have to give His life for us and yet God willingly gave.

The most familiar verse referring to this incredible gift states that “God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That literally means that God’s Gift is available to anyone and everyone who will believe in Him and receive Him as Lord and Savior.

There is another verse that speaks of the generosity of God that has inspired me for many years. 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: although He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.”

There is no way, with our finite minds, that we can understand the distance from the riches of heaven to the lowly manger in Bethlehem. It was an incomprehensible span. If we could somehow comprehend accurately the generosity of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, being generous toward God would be less of a challenge.

As it is, we hold too tightly to our earthly things. They are just “things” after all, and we cling to these things while multitudes the world over are going out into eternity without Jesus Christ as their Savior.

If we could find in our hearts this Christmas a greater measure of generosity expressed through our gifts to the Lord’s work through the church and our gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions, without a doubt, more people would be brought to faith in Christ. As a matter of fact, just two more percentage points of Cooperative Program giving would yield almost $40,000,000 more for sending and supporting our international missionaries.

Should it be so difficult for us to be generous? No, not really, when we consider the generosity of God.

Christmas is the time of year we are most focused on giving. As we prepare to give gifts to those we love, let’s not leave out Jesus. After all, it is His birthday.

Janice joins me in wishing for you and your loved ones a marvelous time of celebrating the generosity of God this Christmas. He has blessed us beyond measure. I trust that you feel the same way. For us, that blessing includes the joy of serving among Georgia Baptists. May the peace, love, and joy of Jesus Christ bless you this Christmas and remind you of the generosity of God.