I remember when I was 26 years old and and working retail. I volunteered a couple hours a week at a soup kitchen in a church basement. You could work in the kitchen or sit out in the tabled area with the youth that were served. Either way, I remember the leader telling us that we should not serve them and also judge them at the same time. 

Whenever I talk about poor or homeless people. I often hear people warning me a story about cheaters or con artists. I have dealt with both. Moved by a man with a gas can and a compelling story, I gave him cash. Of course, seeing him again on the same curb a week later taught me a lesson. And the girl that just needed a few bucks for a bus ride to the next town forgot she had hit me up just yesterday.

In the stories of the Bible, you’d think that Jesus would test people better before handing out miracles too. They asked and he gave. Of the ten lepers, only one bothered to thank him. He even healed a man who was coming to arrest him. Of the five thousand he fed, few stuck around after the food was eaten. On the cross, he allowed a convicted thief into heaven, again just for asking. The worst part, he went in knowing that he would be betrayed and abandoned. When he said, “forgive them” he meant it for not only his killers, but his best friends too. The one who kissed his cheek, the one who denied knowing him and the ten others that melted into the shadows at the hour of his grief.

What is the point? The point is generosity is a gift. The Bible says that we should, “Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.” Luke 6:30-31. 

Obviously we should be careful not endlessly pour money and time into a hole, but the default should be grace. Why? Because all of us have messed up. More than once. How many times do I require grace? Probably one more time, at least.