Joyce meyer’daily sermon for today: No Strings Attached!

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Topic: No Strings Attached!

One of the bad habits we should want to break is being selfish and self-centered, and the best way to do that is to form the
habit of being generous. Generosity makes one’s soul truly beautiful.

God is generous, and all those who wish to be like Him must learn to be generous. I once heard that when we give we are more like God than at any other time.

When something is a habit, we actually miss it if we are not doing it. We should have such a strong habit of generosity
that we actually crave the opportunity to do things for others.
We can and should form a habit of being generous. That means that we choose to do more than we would have to do, and always do as much as we possibly can.

We should never be the type of person who only does what they absolutely have to do, and even then does it with murmuring and complaining.

God delights in a person with a willing and a generous heart.
He loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).
I don’t enjoy it at all when someone does something for me and I can sense that they resent doing it. It actually ruins the whole thing, and I would rather that they not do it at all. My father was not a generous man. As a matter of fact, I don’t ever remember him doing anything for anyone unless there
was something in it for him.

He even told me repeatedly that
nobody really cared about anyone else, and everyone was out to get something. I am sure he believed that because that was
the way he was, but how sad to live your whole life with that kind of attitude. Any time my father did anything for anyone
there was always something he wanted in return. The truth is, that type of giving isn’t real giving at all.

When people give with that kind of attitude, they are in reality purchasing
something. We often hear that we should give with no strings attached, which means to give expecting nothing in return.

We should give generously, not expecting anything from the one we give to, but knowing that God blesses and rewards the
generous person.
The merciful, kind, and generous man benefits himself [for his deeds return to bless him], but he who is cruel and callous [to the wants of others] brings on
himself retribution. Proverbs 11:17

I can still remember how much I hated it when my father let me go to a movie or borrow his car and yet made me feel
guilty for doing it. It was a terrible feeling, and I don’t want to ever make anyone feel that way. I don’t believe we are being
truly generous unless we do what we do with a willing heart.
Giving may begin as a discipline, but it should develop into a desire. We can learn to give for the sheer joy we find in doing
it.
A spirit of generosity causes a person to give even when it seems unreasonable to do so. The apostle Paulspeaks of the
generosity of the churches in Macedonia.

Even though they were experiencing an ordeal of severe tribulation and deep
poverty, they had so much joy that it overflowed in lavish generosity.

They gave according to their ability, and even beyond their ability (what would have been comfortable) (2 Corinthians 8:2–3).

Just reading about these people makes me
admire them and want to be like them. We are drawn to generous people, and we instinctively don’t want to be in the
presence of a stingy person for very long.