"The Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” (Acts 20:35) "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7) If you have grown up in church, you have undoubtedly heard these two phrases over and over again. Sometimes repetition can cause us to tune out or think they are just cliché's meant to get us to open our pockets wider. And no doubt the abuses of some have contributed to this effect. However, I know from personal experience that these are truths worth heading. I have been both on the receiving and giving ends and it truly is more blessed to give! I don't know if I can find adequate language to describe it, but their is a weight that comes with receiving, where as in true, humble giving there is a release of a weight and a freedom that causes the spirit to soar!
It isn't about the amount given, as Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 8:12, "For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have." "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed." (2 Corinthians 9:8) God will supply and multiply so you can be generous. "He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows generously will also reap generously" (2 Corinthians 9:6). I have experienced this truth in my life as well. As long as I keep my hands open, God continues to amaze me with His blessing and I get the privilege of watching it flow through my hands to others.
What I hadn't realized until today, as I was reading in 2 Corinthians 9, is that there are other benefits to giving as well. First, verses eleven and twelve say that it not only supplies the needs of the saints, but it produces many thanksgivings to God. And Psalm 69:30-33 says, "I will praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving. And it will please the LORD better than an ox or a young bull with horns and hoofs. The humble have seen it and are glad; you who seek God, let your heart revive. For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise His who are prisoners." Then in verse thirteen it says that this ministry of giving is proof of our obedience to the gospel and will result in them glorifying God. And lastly in verse fourteen it says that those who receive will pray for us!
Giving really is a gift! "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:15)NASB
No comments:
Post a Comment