Generosity and Spiritual Growth Part 1: The Camel and the Needle

I want to experience more spiritual growth. You do too. The good news is there are powerful practices we can incorporate into our lives which produce spiritual growth. One of these practices is generosity. Over the next few posts I will be sharing in detail how the practice of generosity results in spiritual growth.

One powerful reason generosity results in spiritual growth is practicing generosity acts as a protection against the dangers of wealth. Wealth is often a spiritual growth killer…but it does not have to be. Great wealth combined with great generosity is a winning combination for spiritual growth.

Remember the rich guy who came up to Jesus and asked what he had to do to inherit eternal life? (Matthew 19:16-22). Jesus replied, keep the commandments. The man asked which ones. Jesus named a few. The man said, I have kept all of them, so what do I still lack. Then Jesus said, Go sell all your possessions, give the money to the poor, you will gain treasure in heaven, and follow me. At this the man went away sad because he had great wealth.

After the man left Jesus turned to his disciples and made two very important statements:

1. It is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.

2. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.

This is not good news for anyone with significant resources who also wants to experience significant spiritual growth.

Although there are differing opinions about what it means for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, the point Jesus was making is clear. It is very difficult for a rich person to go to heaven. Now if this is the case, it is also enormously difficult for a rich person to experience spiritual growth, even a rich follower of Jesus.

The big question is why? What is it about having lots of wealth which makes spiritual growth so difficult, even to the point of getting into heaven? The answer probably has to do with our sinful natures. Each of us has a sinful nature inside of us. Certain things in the world cause our sinful natures to become more active, more urgent, more powerful. One of these is clearly wealth.

The reasons seem fairly obvious. Money plays into our pride. Having material things can make us feel important. Money can empower our desire for significance or our desire for the approval of others. Who doesn’t like the feeling of others looking at us with envy because we are driving a sweet car, live in a great house, or are dressed in the latest most expensive fashions? We all do. So Jesus was serious about the difficulty wealth creates for our spiritual growth.

The good news, though, is generosity is a powerful antidote against the dangers wealth poses for spiritual growth. If you are a person who has significant resources the next several parts of this blog series are very important for you. In each post I will share how you can practice generosity for increased spiritual growth.

If you do not have significant resources you can still put the practice of generosity to work in your life for increased spiritual growth. I hope you will.

I hope to see you back soon.