“There is one who scatters yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself. The people will curse him who withholds grain, but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it” (Proverbs 11:24-26).
Conventional (human) wisdom is so often the polar opposite of divine wisdom. Take, for example, the subject of generosity towards others. Conventional wisdom says to avoid it: Be a hoarder; be a skinflint; being a miser is wiser. While it is mathematically true that the less you give to others the more you have for yourself, such selfishness and stinginess come at a huge spiritual price.
Since God is the sole source of all the blessings received by the generous and the stingy, it seems pretty reasonable to believe that His own generosity will favor those most like Him (i.e., the generous). Therefore, there is one who scatters generously to others and yet increases more personally. There also is one who does not even compensate others fairly (i.e., the very bare minimum of fairness, without any hint of generosity), and their hoarded stockpile diminishes.
Generosity blesses the giver more richly than its recipient. Jesus Himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). No one understands the profundity of that statement better than our Lord.
Being a selfish skinflint helps no one. It especially hurts the heart and happiness of the miserable miser. What a sickening life and legacy.
