I was talking with some friends yesterday, and the following question was posed -
Do you believe that people that are generous in one area (i.e. with their money) are generous in other areas (with their time, talent, etc.)?
After much discussion, we decided that while there are exceptions to every rule, the general answer was no, people were not usually generous in all areas. We then decided that even that conclusion wasn’t quite right because they way you viewed a person colored whether you believed if they were generous or not. Our example of this was my friend’s sister. Most people would say she was very generous with her time, but because of her comments in private, my friend can see that she just does it for the praise and adoration of her “church family”. So, not really generous.
We could name a few people that we thought were either generous in all areas or stingy in all areas. In fact, I know a married couple – he is all generous and she, not at all. Makes you wonder what attracted them to each other. A true
case of opposites attract? But for the most part, it seems that, in our experience, people are a mix. Generous with some things and stingy with others. We did note, that in our experience, the people that should be most generous (Christians – ministers especially) were often the least generous. Another case of What Wouldn’t Jesus Do.
What do you think? If people have a generous spirit, do they have it in all areas?
“All” is too expansive a word. It forces us to think in absolute terms.
I will say that men are far more likely to allow cars to meld into a single lane in front of them than a woman will.
I don’t know why it is but I sure have experienced it. Is it selfishness?
Your call.