generosity

I have been thinking about how one measures generosity. One way of measuring it is by how much a person gives, but the problem with that is that people have very different amounts to start with. Another way of measuring it is by how much it hurts, but the problem with that is that it means the more materialistic or selfish you are to start with the more generous you can be. If one person is content living a simple life and giving generously and another person is traumatized by not getting an iphone but does it anyway, the second person is more generous in the sense that it "hurts more." I think that is why in Colossians 3 after describing lots of virtues Paul says "over all these virtues put on love with binds them all together in perfect unity." Like anything else the measure of anything we do eventually comes back to love. That is why giving all one has to the poor is useless if it comes from another motive 1 Cor 13. I realize how easily in money as in other areas of life I try to make something else the criterion.