Generosity - why is it good?

I often see posts on facebook about why we should not share. They say our first responsibility is to our own ..... (insert relevant group - family, church, nation, etc). There is an implication that we are somehow ripping off our own group by looking outside it to groups who are more needy to direct our giving. But are we really being generous if we are just supporting our own group when there are others whose needs are much more dire? Should I feel satisfied with increasing my children's pocket money, as if that is what God asks of me? Ok, that's a silly and extreme example. It just annoys me when I read that foreign aid money should be diverted to the poor in our own nation when we are wealthy enough to look after the Australian poor, and we do, but our foreign aid budget is small and lacking in compassion for the worlds neediest people in other lands.

Anyway, today's bible reading included many helpful verses about generosity from Proverbs Ch 11. These verses resonate with me and my experience.

• V 25 reminds of the joy of giving - "A generous man will prosper, he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed" and 
• V26 "People curse the may who hoards grain but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell".
•  V28 "Whoever trusts in his riches will fall but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf".

 In other words, there is much joy in giving, but hanging on to wealth for the sake of security will offend people and lead to ones downfall. I don't have to look far to find excessively wealthy people who are always worried that they don't have enough.

But generosity is rewarded. How? With refreshment and joy, with the respect of others. 2 Corinthians ever says that God loves a cheerful giver. So the point is that generosity needs to be an attitude of the heart. We don't do it for a reward, but we get rewarded anyway, in all kinds of ways, including the joy of a connection with people we don't otherwise know, and the satisfaction of seeing God use our small contributions to great ends in his kingdom.

But I don't think generosity is just about money. Its easier sometimes to make an online deposit than give of our time and energy. I think God loves both kinds of cheerful givers and rewards them both, but the reward in terms of satisfaction is even greater when time and emotional connections are involved. Riskier too, but the greater the risk, the greater to joy.