Many well-known leaders have addressed this matter of the generosity of money. The well-known American evangelist, Billy Graham noted the important relationship between one’s spiritual health and their checkbook, “Give me five minutes with a person’s checkbook, and I will tell you where their heart is.” Colonel Sanders (1890 – 1980), the founder of KFC, quipped, “There’s no need to be the richest man in the cemetery.” The New York author, Christian Bovee (1820 – 1904) wisely noted, “Examples are few of men ruined by giving.” Anne Frank (1929 – 1945), the young Jewish girl who wrote a diary while in hiding with her family and friends in Amsterdam during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II, observed, “No one has ever become poor by giving.” Author Charles H. Burr put it this way, “Getters generally don’t get happiness; givers get it.” Bishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895 – 1979), renowned Roman Catholic Bishop and author, put a sobering understanding to generosity, “Never measure your generosity by what you give but rather by what you have left.” S. Truett Cathy, philanthropist and founder of Chick-fil-A Restaurants, was very comfortable about having money but warned, “It’s OK to have wealth. But keep it in your hand, not in your heart.”

The mark of leadership is to give, and give, then give even more of your time, talent, and treasure. Like God, be gloriously and wastefully generous. Like the greedy King, you will never be as happy as when you are giving away your money, your possessions, your time, and your talents. In the words of John Wesley (1703 – 1791), the founder of Methodism, “Earn as much as you can. Save as much as you can. Invest as much as your can. Give as much as you can.”

You are generous. You are a leader. This is the truth about leadership. This is the Genesis Principle of leadership.