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Boaz: A Role Model for Generosity
Boaz owned a large field, and like other landowners, employed reapers to gather his harvest. When the reapers finished, the less fortunate were allowed to “glean” in the field, taking whatever remained of the harvested crops. Ruth was one such person.
Boaz’s generous spirit surfaced immediately when he saw Ruth. He asked one of the reapers about her, then expressed his generosity to her. Boaz displayed generous leadership in several ways. He was generous with his…:
- Compassion (Ruth 2:8-9): He told Ruth not to glean anywhere else; she would get all she needed from him.
- Compliments (2:11-12): He noticed her sacrifice and complimented her efforts.
- Courtesy (2:14): He invited her to join his staff for a meal, kindly serving her all she wanted.
- Crops (2:15-16): He told his reapers to put extra bundles of grain for her to find.
- Credibility (3:11-13): He showed respect by doing what was right by her request.
- Commitment (4:9-10): He committed himself to ensuring that Ruth’s former husband had offspring to carry on his name.
A generous spirit drove Boaz to the second mile with Ruth, even before he suspected she might become his wife. In fact, Ruth 3:10 says that he expected her to be attracted to a younger man. Still, he gave her extra time, attention, grain, respect, favor, and honor.
How can you emulate Boaz’s example?
Can you pretend to be generous?
Let’s examine the lives of Ananias and Sapphira from the early church. In Acts 5, we learn that they sold some land and gave part of the proceeds to the apostles, but they reported that they gave all the money to the church. God revealed their deception to Peter, and he called them on it. Their sin was not a lack of generosity, but a lack of honesty. They lied about what they had done. They wanted to be thought of as generous without paying the price.
God would have nothing to do with it. He surgically removed the spiritual cancer from the church by taking their lives. “So a great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things,” Luke says (Acts 5:11).
Let’s take a closer look. Ananias and Sapphira…
- Clung to their possessions.
- Agreed to lie about their giving.
- Pretended to be someone they were not.
- Thought they could get by with appearing to be generous.
- Felt more concerned with their image than their relationship with God.
Many leaders struggle with the same issues. In last week’s family devotion time, I tried to drive this point home with our kids. I pointed to Proverbs 3:9-10 which says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing.” Our son worked hard and wanted to buy some football cards. I explained that we could buy them after he gave his tithe to church. Then, I went on to share with the kids how Jennifer and I tithe first (the “firstfruits”…not just giving what’s leftover), and God has always provided for us. I think that’s what he means by “barns filled to overflowing”…not that we’ll be rich, but that our needs will be met…
God wants us to understand a proper relationship with Him, so we will be generous with others…and see our possessions (money and time) as His and stewarding them as He would have us…
Building Generosity into Your Life
Nothing speaks to others more loudly or serves them better than a leader’s generosity. Effective leaders gather for others, then give it away. Consider several ways to cultivate generosity in your own life:
- Be grateful for whatever you have.
- Put people first.
- Don’t allow greed to control you.
- Regard money as a resource.
- Develop the habit of giving.
Sometimes we hold on to our possessions because we fear we might run out. But when we believe that giving is the way to live, we will produce more in the future—life seems abundant. This is the life Jesus had in mind for us (John 10:10).
You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. Leaders who fail to display generosity should ask themselves, “Do I really love the people I lead?” (For more on Loving Your Team, check out this post from January.
Be generous with others, as you shoot for the stars!
