Joy in Generosity

Sep 23 2025 - Eric Buresh

“That in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.” —2 Corinthians 8:2 (NKJV) 

I’ve been studying the “seven deadly sins” that have been passed down through Church history, as well as the virtues that should replace them. Looking at greed, one of the words often used to describe a greedy person is “miserly.” A miser, for a variety of potential underlying reasons, hordes more money than they need. Not surprisingly, as the name implies, misers are miserable (same root word). The virtue opposing greed is generosity, or liberality in giving. The believer who is liberal in giving experiences the opposite of the miser – they experience great joy just like their Savior did after giving Himself liberally on the cross. 

It is a marvel of God’s grace! The churches of Macedonia (2 Cor. 8), though pressed by trials and crushed by poverty, overflowed with generosity. The world would say that affliction dries up charity, that want stifles liberality. But grace makes a mockery of worldly wisdom. The poorer they were, the richer they became in giving. Their pockets were empty, but their hearts were full. Their means were small, yet their joy was great. 

Generosity is not measured by what is in the hand, but by what is in the heart. A rich man may cast large sums into the treasury and yet give little in the eyes of God, while a poor widow with two mites outgives them all. The Macedonians gave “beyond their ability.” They did not calculate, they consecrated. Their giving was sacrificial, born not of surplus but of faith. And is not this the very spirit of Christ, who though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich? 

Giving is not a duty—it is a grace. It is God Himself who bestows the cheerful heart that follows the hand of liberality. To give reflects God’s own nature and it aligns us in His perfect joy and love. He is the great Giver, and His children must resemble Him. When we give, not grudgingly or of duty, but as He gives, we preach a sermon louder than words.  

The Macedonian example should stir us today. We should not wait until we have abundance before we begin to give; that is the approach of the faithless miser. The grace of giving belongs to all who walk by faith and know what the Macedonians knew—that joy and generosity walk hand in hand. There is God-ordained joy in liberality as we taste and see that beautiful truth from our Lord that it is more blessed to give than to receive.