Tag: Generosity

Guide to Goodness

Winning the Spiritual Battle of Greed with Generosity

Smitten With Goodness
Art by Melanie Boutiette Just Beloved

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.  There are no greater commandments than these.  As the Gospel of Mark 12:28 reminds us, when Jesus was asked about the first commandment, he answered by linking these two commandments together.  We learn to love God by loving our neighbor.  The sin we dive into today destroys our ability to love in this way.  If we are driven by the culture which tells us to always acquire more, we lose sight of how to love our neighbor.  The Church, comprised of people, has historically provided for our neighbors in need in living out these commandments.  But the tides are turning in our culture as we turn from God, and replace it with the expectation that government should provide the solution.

Continue reading “Winning the Spiritual Battle of Greed with Generosity” →
Gift of Goodness

Gift of Goodness – September 25, 2021

Smitten With Goodness
A bit of goodness to start your day.

A Prayer for Generous Self-Sacrifice

Blessed Lord Jesus, in all eternity you enjoyed perfect harmony with your Father. Yet, you did not see equality with the Father as something to be grasped, but instead, you emptied yourself and took the form of a servant. This you did not because you had to, but because of your tremendous love and generosity toward mankind. I thank you for this incredible gift of love. Therefore, I humbly stand before you to beg of your mercy. By your grace, mold and refine me until I can learn to live as humbly and as sacrificially as you have lived. Give me compassion and generosity that refuses to stand by idly but give me a true zeal to see your name glorified so that all my doings in this life might bring honor to you.

Amen

Today, I will thank you for Your gift of self sacrifice and pray for compassion and generosity to glorify You in everything I do.

Guide to Goodness

A Way of Being.  Fruit of the Spirit: Generosity

Smitten With Goodness
Art by Melanie Boutiette Just Beloved

It is often said that the United States of America is a generous nation full of generous people. According to Giving USA, charitable giving totaled $471.44 billion in 2020 up from $448.66 billion in 2019.  According to the report, giving by individuals totaled $324.1 billion, up 2.2%.  This is even in the complex landscape of the COVID pandemic and the racial and social justice movements. We saw cracks in the US infrastructure like never before, showing us glaring needs, and Americans continued to give billions of dollars to charity to help. Having been blessed to have a long, successful career in philanthropy, I have seen many examples of this generosity in action.  It inspires me to see individuals live in the Spirit of generosity, giving so much of themselves to help the good causes in which they believe. 

Continue reading “A Way of Being.  Fruit of the Spirit: Generosity” →