Besides faith, a person must have the right motivation in showing generosity. If, for example, he lacked love, his giving would have no value in the eyes of God. The apostle Paul made a strong point on this when he wrote: “If I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body, that I may boast, but do not have love, I am not profited at all.”​—1 Cor. 13:3.

Those who give in order to receive plaudits of men may gain the flattering praises that they are seeking. But for them, giving brings no other reward. Jesus Christ made this plain when counseling against such giving. He said: “When you go making gifts of mercy, do not blow a trumpet ahead of you, just as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, They are having their reward in full. But you, when making gifts of mercy, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, that your gifts of mercy may be in secret; then your Father who is looking on in secret will repay you.”​—Matt. 6:2-4.

There is no merit in anyone’s giving of his time, assets and talents simply to impress others or to gain some personal advantage. Christian generosity should be totally unselfish. Jesus Christ stated: “If you lend without interest to those from whom you hope to receive, of what credit is it to you? Even sinners lend without interest to sinners that they may get back as much. To the contrary, continue to lend without interest, not hoping for anything back; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind toward the unthankful and wicked.”​—Luke 6:34, 35.

When giving is not properly motivated and faith is lacking, a person could become guilty of very serious sin. This is illustrated in the cases of Ananias and Sapphira. They saw how others voluntarily sold their possessions and put the proceeds at the disposal of the apostles, to be used for helping needy fellow believers. Evidently Ananias and Sapphira sought the praise of others for being generous. But they lacked faith in God’s care. Though under no obligation to do so, they sold a field and then agreed to contribute only a part of the money received. However, they lyingly tried to make themselves appear more generous than they actually were by pretending that they were contributing the whole amount. Through the apostle Peter, God himself exposed their deliberate deceit and pronounced upon them the judgment of death.​—Acts 5:1-11.

True generosity is really an expression of love. And there are times when love calls for restraint in generosity. For example, some people are irresponsible, lazy and unwilling to accept work although jobs that they could do are available. It would be to their injury if they were permitted to take advantage of others’ generosity. In the case of such persons, the Bible rule should apply: “If anyone does not want to work, neither let him eat.”​—2 Thess. 3:10.

Circumstances also can limit the extent to which a person can give to others. The responsibility to care for family members, for instance, comes first. That is why it would be wrong for a father to give to others in a way that hinders his providing properly for his family.​—1 Tim. 5:8.