Generosity 1: Lies about Generosity - Genesis 12:1-3

I was raised in a home that modeled generosity. My mother had no income but developed a massive garden to be generous. My father was known for his generosity to neighbors and he gave faithfully financially to the Church, whether or not the farm made money. My father forgave a $50,000 debt I owed him to cover a down payment on a house. I was able to work off $5-7k of it, but we were raising 4 kids in an expensive city. He saw it wasn't gonna happen and said, "Just forget it." When I visited my parents, our vehicle would leave burdened by my mom's baking and produce. She used to single handedly make soup to feed 125 street-involved people for our community night, sending it frozen back to the city. We love being with generous people, but are we generous? God is generous and those who follow Jesus should be generous. This topic is taboo because it gets distorted all over the world by self-interest. The scriptures talk a lot about it and my interest is not in fundraising but as a pastor to shepherd, disciple, and help people follow Jesus. Generosity is a big thing. Extra reading: Matthew 6:19-24 Preacher: Bill Dyck