How good is the wonderful character trait of generosity, which is good for heaven and good for the creatures, good for himself and good for others, good in this world and in the next. It is a gift of Hashem and a nature of man. There are people who are naturally very liberal with their money, and others who are naturally very miserly and cannot control themselves and cannot even spend the minimal life-sustaining expenditure for himself to sustain his life. Fortunate is the man who has been favored by Hashem with a good nature. However, even one who has a bad nature will not be exonerated by this on the day of judgment as a person has the ability to change his nature and swap good for evil through his brain and his application to learning works of ethics, and through constant fighting, and in proportion to the pain is the reward. He should pour out his soul before Hashem that he should be supported by a generous spirit.
However, the facts are that each person considers his own path the correct one and he thinks that he has fulfilled his obligations by giving charity. The Torah therefore gave a fixed amount for this thing when it says that a person should give a tenth of his profits each year, and one who does this is fortunate in this world and will receive goodness in the next.
