What does the Bible say about generosity?

Use these prefiltered searches to craft sermons and prayers, offer pastoral care, or plan worship services around the theme of generosity. 

God's generosity

• Matthew 20:15, generosity in the parable of the vineyard 
• John 3:16, God's generosity in salvation 
• 2 Corinthians 8:9, generosity of Jesus  

Generosity in God's people

• Exodus 35:5, a generous heart 
• Proverbs 11:24, give generously 
• Matthew 6:3–4, quiet generosity 
• Luke 21:1–4, generosity of the poor
• 2 Corinthians 9:6–11, cheerful generosity 
• 1 Timothy 6:17–18, be generous 

The Bible's particular interest in generosity to the poor

• Leviticus 19:9–10, generosity with your harvest 
• Proverbs 19:17, generosity to the poor 
• Acts 20:35, the value of generosity 

Sermon ideas about generosity

A sermon on generosity can point out that though we usually think of generosity as openhandedness with material goods (principally money), we can also be generous with our possessions, time, attention, encouragement, emotional availability, and more. Except for possessions, each of these things is nonmaterial. 

Indeed, some of the greatest forms of generosity in the universe are nonmaterial, such as God's grace for sinners manifested in the self-giving death of Jesus Christ. As the parable of the unmerciful servant shows, God's prime generosity to us in forgiveness is meant to spur our generosity to others. 

Generous people may offer money or possessions—or time, attention, or encouragement—but they may also be magnanimous in assessing other people's motives and actions by giving others the benefit of the doubt or by putting the best face on their motives and acts. 

A sermon on generosity can also illuminate the Bible's particular interest in generosity to the poor, to those who cannot be generous in return. See, for example, the texts above from Leviticus and Proverbs. 

But Luke 21 shows us a noble widow who is a sort of counterexample. She does not give a lot of money, but she does give self-sacrificially, displaying the heart of generosity. To give out of abundance is wonderful; to give out of want is heroic. Sonia Nazario's Enrique's Journey is memorable in part because it gives us vignettes of impoverished villagers who spot Central American kids riding the tops of boxcars toward the United States and then give them food they really cannot spare. They might have one tamale a day and give the kids half of it. 

In Matthew 6, Jesus recommends giving in secret, no doubt to counteract the kind of giving that is motivated by a hunger for publicity. But not all public giving is so motivated. Some is intended as a challenge and incentive to other givers: "I gave $$$. How about you?" Givers, too, may stir each other to good works. 

Sermons on generosity can also examine what generosity does for the giver. Proverbs 11 and 2 Corinthians 9 represent a strand of biblical teaching that recognizes that generosity also benefits the giver. Givers tend to thrive. They don't finally lose by giving. Indeed, scientific evidence supports the thesis that, in generosity, those who do good also do well.  

Does this corrupt their motives? Not necessarily. Healthy givers act out of gratitude for God's generosity to them and out of love of neighbor. They do not give to ensure their own thriving. But it is not wrong for them to notice that those who act generously do in fact tend to thrive.