Manual for Teachers: Section 4 WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD’S TEACHERS? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII: Generosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 14 paragraph 1

Section 4

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD’S TEACHERS?

page 14, paragraph 1

VII. Generosity

1 The term generosity has special meaning to the teacher of God. ²It is not the usual meaning of the word; in fact, it is a meaning that must be learned and learned very carefully. ³Like all the other attributes of God’s teachers this one rests ultimately on trust, for without trust no one can be generous in the true sense. ⁴To the world, generosity means “giving away” in the sense of “giving up.” ⁵To the teachers of God, it means giving away in order to keep. ⁶This has been emphasized throughout the text and the workbook, but it is perhaps more alien to the thinking of the world than many other ideas in our curriculum. ⁷Its greater strangeness lies merely in the obviousness of its reversal of the world’s thinking. ⁸In the clearest way possible, and at the simplest of levels, the word means the exact opposite to the teachers of God and to the world.

Sharing Gifts

I like being generous. I like giving to friends and loved ones. It is one of the reasons I have always enjoyed Christmas so much. I like giving to someone in need whether I know them or not. Sometimes I give money, clothes, attention, love, a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear, whatever form love takes at the time.

I am about half way to generosity, meaning, I am not entirely generous because I pick and choose where I will be generous. Sometimes I decide who deserves my generosity. I hold back when I think I don’t have enough. Sometimes I am miserly in my giving, sharing a little or with resentment. My trust is not yet complete so I cannot afford to be generous in the way Jesus speaks of it.

Surrender

What I do when I notice these behaviors is to ask for healing, to ask for help in trusting completely. I want to be completely surrendered so that in all things I ask for direction and follow it without exception. I want to do this without fear and without a sense of sacrifice, but because it brings me joy to do so. This will happen only as I develop trust.