The Health Benefits of Generosity
Sunday, December 1, 2024
Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 Tim. 6:18, 19, NIV.
When John D. Rockefeller was in his 50s he was broken in health and ready to die as the richest man in the United States. It was said that the veins in his arms were as hard as lead pipes. He was a driven man-driven to satisfy his lust for material wealth-and had used every possible means available to him to make money and destroy his competitors.
As Rockefeller faced death he began to see himself for the greedy fool he really was, and to fear his encounter with God. Maybe if he used his money to meet the needs of others, he thought, God would forgive him for the way he had acquired his wealth.
He resolved to become kind and benevolent, and began giving away millions. Instead of dying, he steadily improved in health. He was also far happier in his money-giving days than he had been in his money-making days. When he died at the ripe old age of 97, it was said that the veins in his arms were as soft as a baby's.
Long before Rockefeller, the Bible illustrated the health principle of generosity with the story of two rich farmers.
The farmer in Luke 12:16-21 had a problem. His harvest was so bountiful his barns weren't large enough to store it. In a purely selfish but very logical decision, the man ordered larger grain elevators built, and then stretched out in his recliner and gloated over how lavishly he had provided for himself for years to come so he could take it easy, eat, drink, and be merry. Jesus called him a fool, because that night the man died and someone else inherited his wealth.
The second was Boaz. In contrast, Boaz allowed the poor to glean in his fields. He was particularly generous with a foreign-born widow, Ruth, and later married her. Because of his generosity he became the great-grandfather of King David and a forerunner of the Saviour Himself (Ruth 2-4).
When you're tempted to accumulate things for yourself, remember the scriptural health principle: "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).
What more could you do to practice the health principle of generosity?
When John D. Rockefeller was in his 50s he was broken in health and ready to die as the richest man in the United States. It was said that the veins in his arms were as hard as lead pipes. He was a driven man-driven to satisfy his lust for material wealth-and had used every possible means available to him to make money and destroy his competitors.
As Rockefeller faced death he began to see himself for the greedy fool he really was, and to fear his encounter with God. Maybe if he used his money to meet the needs of others, he thought, God would forgive him for the way he had acquired his wealth.
He resolved to become kind and benevolent, and began giving away millions. Instead of dying, he steadily improved in health. He was also far happier in his money-giving days than he had been in his money-making days. When he died at the ripe old age of 97, it was said that the veins in his arms were as soft as a baby's.
Long before Rockefeller, the Bible illustrated the health principle of generosity with the story of two rich farmers.
The farmer in Luke 12:16-21 had a problem. His harvest was so bountiful his barns weren't large enough to store it. In a purely selfish but very logical decision, the man ordered larger grain elevators built, and then stretched out in his recliner and gloated over how lavishly he had provided for himself for years to come so he could take it easy, eat, drink, and be merry. Jesus called him a fool, because that night the man died and someone else inherited his wealth.
The second was Boaz. In contrast, Boaz allowed the poor to glean in his fields. He was particularly generous with a foreign-born widow, Ruth, and later married her. Because of his generosity he became the great-grandfather of King David and a forerunner of the Saviour Himself (Ruth 2-4).
When you're tempted to accumulate things for yourself, remember the scriptural health principle: "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).
What more could you do to practice the health principle of generosity?
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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