So I recently watched a video where the pastor said this; though not word for word but accurately what you are about to read, he said: It is easy to label someone as generous because they gave, especially when the giving is big, bold, and public. And I honestly couldn’t agree more because the pastor was very very much on point. You see, we often associate generosity with grand gestures, impressive donations, or public acts of charity, but the truth is this: True generosity is not defined by the size of the gift or the spectacle of the moment; it goes deeper than that. Let me put it like this: It is possible to give WITHOUT being generous but it is impossible to be generous without being a giver.
One thing about generosity that might not be obvious to many is that: Generosity is not just about what you give, or even how much you give; it is very very much also about the heart from which the giving flows. A person who is truly generous will unlikely or for most of the time give NOT for recognition, guilt, or obligation, but from a place of love, compassion, and sincere care for others; it is a quiet strength, a posture or the positioning of the heart that speaks louder than any public display.
I like how Apostle Paul puts it, in 1 Corinthians 13:3:
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have no love, it profiteth me nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:3 KJV
In other words, even the most extreme acts of giving, when stripped of love, are empty and ultimately meaningless.
So in today’s article after I just finished reading the book of 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, is a call for us to look beyond the giving, to examine, search and ask ourselves: What fuels my generosity and to rediscover and rightly position our heart to be pure: love in action, rooted in humility, compassion, and a core desire to just bless others.
Throughout this article I will reiterate the core essence of today’s message, and I will do that by bringing back the first thing I said over and over and over again.
The Illusion of Generosity
Again, like I started: It is easy to think of a person as generous because they gave, especially when they gave something big. If in your mind as you are reading this article, you are thinking or in the past you have thought that visibility equals virtue, think again, please let’s think about it again because we tend to think that, while associating generosity with outward expressions, especially something like a large donation, a viral act of kindness, or a dramatic sacrifice and please don’t get me wrong, while these acts may be commendable, they can also be very very deceiving if we don’t pause, take a step back to look beneath the surface.
The illusion of generosity tricks us into mistaking giving for generosity; they are very very NOT the same. Remember in the beginning of this article I said: It is possible to give WITHOUT being generous but it is impossible to be generous without being a giver.
A person can give generously and yet not be generous. Again, you can still ask how? Even though I explained at the beginning, Lol, all good, let’s keep talking about it. How you asked, right? Because generosity is not just an action; it is a condition of the heart. You can give without love, without empathy, without any true concern for the person on the receiving end. You can give for recognition, for guilt relief, for status, or even out of obligation. But giving, not done out of love is hollow. Just as the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:3,
Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor… and have no love, it profits me nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:3 KJV
That is a sobering thought.
So even though we might not always know people’s intentions and motives; this is all to say that someone can help out in a big way, it does NOT translate to them being noble, because the heart may still be far from love and when love is absent, so is the true essence of generosity.
This is very much NOT a call to criticism or judgment; again, this is a call for us to look beyond the giving, to examine, search and ask ourselves, to probe ourselves as the philosophers like to put it: What fuels my generosity and to rediscover and rightly position our heart to be pure: love in action, rooted in humility, compassion, and a core desire to just bless others.
This is a reminder that God, yourself and sometimes others and those on the receiving end, can tell the difference between a hand extended in love and a hand extended for self-satisfaction, and even if you manage to deceive others, know this: True generosity can not be faked, because it is not primarily about what you do; it is also very very much about who you while doing it.
Generosity at its core and purest is not loud; it is not self-seeking; it flows naturally, quietly, and sometimes anonymously, and this is because it is not trying to prove anything; it is simply the overflow of a heart filled with love.
So yes, very much yes, you may have given, even given big, but we must ask ourselves: Did love lead the way? What is compassion that moved my hand? Or was it just the illusion of generosity, showmanship, an impressive act without a generous heart? You ask yourself this question so that you can learn, correct and make your giving more than a transaction.
More Than a Transaction
Some of us have come to often treat our giving as an exchange, something like a spiritual transaction or a moral checkbox, “I gave, so I MUST be good,” while you lie, whether it is money, time, or effort, there is a subtle temptation to keep score, to feel justified by the act itself, but generosity was never meant to be a record book, not at all.
So, when your giving becomes transactional, it becomes mechanical, a behavioural modification, and NOT organic, and so it loses its personal touch, its soul. I think a great way to look at it is this: See the difference between someone who donates out of routine, and someone who pauses, considers, connects, and thoughtfully gives out of care; one may meet a need, but the other meets a person, because true generosity does not stop at the act; it reaches into the heart of the moment and of the person. It asks questions like this: Why am I giving? What does this mean for me? What does this mean to the person receiving it? Am I simply transferring a resource, or am I imparting love?
Again, the truth is, not every gift is generous, and not every generous act looks like a gift; let me say that again, not every generous act looks like a gift. Sometimes, generosity is in how we listen, how we show up, how we speak life into someone who feels lost, unseen, and invisible; those are not transactions, they can not be because they are the expressions of a loving heart.
You see, God’s economy does not measure by amounts we give, as must as the amount is very very important, it measures by intention. When Jesus watched the widow drop her two small coins into the offering box, He did not see a small transaction; He saw a great sacrifice, a sacrifice garnished with trust and love, and that is the difference; that again is the heart of generosity. This is all primarily about the posture of the heart.
The Posture of the Heart
If you do not know this, know it now, generosity starts before anything leaves your hand; it begins in the quiet, unseen space of the heart, long before the gift leaves your hand, the act, or the sacrifice is ever made.
We can not talk about true generosity without talking about the posture and position of the heart. Not physical posture, but heart posture, it is the inner disposition from which we give. A humble heart gives without expecting applause, a compassionate heart gives without calculating return, a surrendered heart gives even when it costs and this is why love is VERY central because without love, our giving becomes either performative or burdensome, but with love, even the smallest act becomes powerful, meaningful, eternal; this heart posture of love transforms giving from duty to delight, from obligation to offering.
And this is another beautiful thing: A right heart posture does not require wealth or abundance; it just simply requires willingness because generosity is not the privilege of the rich; it is the calling of the kind. So yes, people may never know the cost of what you gave; they may never see the love that motivated it, but God sees; He always sees and He values not just the action, but the posture from which it was done.
So when next you think about generosity, do not ask only “What did I give?” Also ask, “Where did it come from within me?” Because the state of our heart is the true offering because then and only then do you set yourself on the right path to becoming a vessel.
Becoming a Vessel, Not a Vendor
Generosity is not a product we sell or distribute; it is a flow we participate in, but many people treat giving like they are vendors: Hoarding time, money, and resources, carefully deciding who is “worthy” of receiving and when it suits them to give but this mindset only reinforces ownership, seeks worship, control, and builds pride.
Today’s call to generosity is not about holding tightly and choosing when to open our hands; it is about living as vessels, channels through which love, kindness, and provision flow. A vessel does not own the contents; it simply carries and releases them.So when you begin to see yourself as a vessel, everything shifts. You no longer give to impress, to fix, or to earn favor; you give because you have been given to; you extend grace because you have received it; you meet needs because you know what it is like to have your own met and in ways you did not expect and could not repay.
This kind of generosity is total surrender; it is not just about what you can spare, but what you are willing to release and most importantly it means allowing God to pour through you freely, without fear of running dry and trusting that the source is endless.
So, please, please and please or like Apostle Paul will often say, I beseech you to stop acting like a vendor, selling kindness, and putting a price to your extended hand of help. Let us all become vessels, open and ready, not because we have everything, but because we have learnt that giving is not about us; it is about being available for something greater than ourselves.
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Conclusion
At the core and heart of it all; beyond the giving, beyond the applause, beyond the visible and impressive acts stands one enduring truth: without love, it all means nothing.
The Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 are a sobering reminder that even the most spiritual, sacrificial, and spectacular acts are empty if they are not rooted in love. You can speak eloquently, understand deeply, believe powerfully, and give extravagantly but if love is absent, all of it dissolves into noise like a resounding gong, a clanging cymbal.
True generosity is impossible without love because love is what transforms a gift into a blessing, a gesture into grace; it is love that keeps generosity kind, humble, patient, and pure because without it, giving can become performative, conditional, or even manipulative but with love, generosity becomes an expression of something divine.
Apostle Paul does not just stop at a warning, he gives us a picture of what love looks like in action; it is patient; it is kind; it protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres; it does not envy, boast, dishonor, or keep score; it is not proud or self-seeking; it does not just give things but it also gives itself.
So while the world may celebrate the act, love compels us to examine the heart; it calls us beyond the surface, beyond the giving, and into the deeper work of being, being vessels of God’s love, not just vendors of good deeds because in the end, when the knowledge of the giving fades and the applause of the giving is silent, when all the doing is done, either or not in faith, hope, and love; the greatest of these, the one that gives every gift its meaning, and transform your life is love. So, again, again, and again let love lead; let it be the reason, the root, and the bases of your generosity because only love makes giving truly generous.
