This is such a great verse. Jesus is telling us that if we are stingy in our generosity, then we will receive the same in return. I thank God that he says he will return to us what we give to others, we don’t do it for the return God knows that but it is a reassurance of his love for us and of his involvement in our lives. I’m sure going to lap up what he gives to me because it will be the best. But the best of all is the sacrifice of his son. what more could there be. Thank you Lord, for this fabulous gift. Amen

What a great verse to reflect on at this time. We all have something to give. Our only response to God’s immeasurable gift can be to give in return. Be it money, time, kind words, prayer, support etc.
Personally I have found the more sacrificial the giving the greater the joy I feel and that’s reward enough but often our Father will find ways to reward us in a palpable way and that’s awesome. It’s all good! As the church we should definitely be leading the way when it comes to generousity.

There is a subtle temptation in these verses - that you give expecting some benefit for yourself in return. We need to imitate God’s generosity which is given to good and bad alike, and just trust that in God’s good time ( which won’t be our time scale) we will benefit from the generosity of others.
The hardest thing is to give when there is no apparent acknowledgement or response or reciprocation.

I think being generous can mean generosity of spirit. If you greet people with a smile, you are lifting up your heart and facing the day with hope. Jesus gave hope to millions by being generous: we can start with the hope, and then the action of smiling or picking up a dropped item, or opening a door, becomes an act of love and we are lifted up.

Just this morning I received an email from a friend, which brought a terrible memory back to me of when her son was sufferring from meningitus and all the prayer and skill of the Dr’s that nursed him back to a normal life.
Her husband has taken on the challenge of running a marathon and was requesting sponsorship money.
Then I read todays verse, it really is true. But we need to remember not to expect recompense for our actions, which may not be immediate.

And they say the Bible can be difficult to understand?

Pleased to see that the object is to deepen ones spirituality and hope and pray that this is so for many people.Perhaps to live, in this day and age, by giving ones self to others rather than spending/using the internet as an excuse not to meet people face to face. We seem to becoming a closed in society which is loosing contact with the world, and people who live around us. How is it possible for Christians not to be caught up in ‘the media driven fear’; the fear that stops us communicating God’s love to others.

How true these words are.God is so loving and generous to each one of us. My life has been blessed in so many ways and yet sometimes, like a child, I have forgotten to say thank you to God and taken that love and generosity for granted.Perhaps that is a lesson for us all. Do we thank others when they are kind, loving, caring and generous towards us?  Do we thank God for all the blessings he has given and continues to give to us each day?

Whenever I have been generous to a needy cause, I am sure that God has blessed me with far more in return.  But we need to be careful not to expect a return, so we can feel the joy of unexpected blessings - in the words of C.S. Lewis, we can be “surprised by joy”.

Am I the only one whose email system persists in warning me that these verses might be a scam?
Definitely food for reflection there!