Through life’s ups and downs, we are either growing or withering away. Whenever we seek to live generously, it puts us on the side of growing. So the “S” in “Generosity” can stand for spiritual deepening.

How does this happen? As we focus on God’s abundant grace in the gift of God’s love in our lives, we become more joyful, regardless of whether we have a little or a lot in material goods. We try to keep growing in our “first fruits giving” – giving the first and the best to God in our time, money, relationships and involvements, and seeking to manage all of these dimensions according to God’s generosity towards us. We want to become more present to God’s Presence in and around us, by joining in worship and in a small group for spiritual growth. We go deeper in our prayer life with God (in whatever form that takes for us), and connect more consciously with one another as a faith community.

Questions naturally pop up in our living. Where do we see and respond to God’s grace? What is our specific mission? How can we embody it in our daily lives? Living generously prompts us to become more intentional in our spiritual disciplines, and more conscious of God at work all around us.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing – It is the gift of God.”  (Ephesians 2:8)

Your partner in ministry,
Betsy Schwarzentraub

Written 7/2013 for Foothills UMC, Rescue, CA