True generosity is attained when we completely gratuitously give ourselves to others, just like God who gives himself to us completely gratuitously. Never mind if our generosity is not reciprocated, which is unlikely since when we are generous with others the tendency is also for the others to be generous with us in their own way.
The crucial point in this business of generosity is the gratuitousness of our self-giving. This should be the attitude in our self-giving. It has to be done without counting the cost, without expecting any reward. We should not worry about anything, because God knows everything and gives us everything that we need. And he cannot be outdone in generosity. The more we give of ourselves, the more he will reward us.
This is what true love is. It is a total self-giving. But the mysterious part of it is that it actually generates more love and self-giving in others. It inspires others to give themselves in the way of true love. That is why true love has its own reward. It has the dynamic of being repaid also with love.
Loving and serving cannot and should not be quantified in terms of cost and reward. It is above all these considerations. It’s a purely spiritual operation that should not be spoiled by giving it some material and temporal value. It’s where we can approximate, keep and build up that dignity of being the image and likeness of God and adopted children of his. It’s how we become God-like.
This is how God serves and gives himself to us, with complete gratuitousness. He even goes all the way of still loving and serving us even if we do not reciprocate his love properly. This is how we should serve and give ourselves to the others also! (Fr. Roy Cimagala)
