Perhaps you&8217;ve read about some of the most generous people in America.

People like Gordon and Betty Moore, who have given or pledged over seven billion dollars to charitable causes in the last few years. He is the co-founder of Intel.

And likely you&8217;ve read that Oprah Winfrey has given more than 150-million-dollars to international education initiatives.

Our neighbor in Atlanta, Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons and co-founder of Home Depot, is reported to have given or pledged over 180-million-dollars to environmental causes, to youth organizations, and art organizations.

Then there are the top givers:

Bill and Melinda Gates, he the co-founder of Microsoft.

Reportedly, this wealthy couple have given or pledged over ten billion dollars to health charities, to educational organizations, and the like.

You are likely to say, &8220;Yeah, they can give it away because they will get all kinds of tax breaks, probably. And besides that, each one of those individuals has such a huge net worth, he or she will never miss a dime of what has been given away to charity.&8221;

Think about this:

it&8217;s not how much you have, but what you do with it that matters to God! II Corinthians, chapter 9, says it like this:

&8220;&8230;The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.&8221;

A call to generosity begins in the heart of God. Keep in mind the generosity of God to you and to me: already, He has given us more than we can ever measure.

He has given us above all the great gift of His son, Jesus Christ. It is in Christ that we experience the forgiveness of our sins, the purposefulness of life, and the promise of eternal life.

God also has given to us many gifts:

our families, our friends, our neighborhood, our homes, our food, our water, our clothing, and on and on the list could go.

And at some point I hope that enough of us do some reevaluating and reprioritizing that we will be able to respond to the Lord with giving and generosity.

Ron Grizzle serves as pastor of Riverchase Baptist Church