Re:Verse passage – 2 Corinthians 9:6-12 (day six)
There is no way around this, the kingdom minded person is a generous giver. They are giving because there is always a good kingdom return on their investment; it bears lots of fruit, and that makes them glad. And by giving I mean money. That’s what Paul means when writing to the Corinthian church.
Our church family doesn’t beat the national average, roughly 20 percent of our church family has a rhythm of giving a tithe (the Old Testament command to give 10 percent of your first fruits to the temple). So out of, say, 500 possible unique givers at FBCSA, only 100 actually give regularly. Consider the harvest of those 100 faithful, cheerful givers: a dedicated and gifted ministerial staff, beautiful new and historic facilities, planted churches, ongoing ministry and missions, mobilizing thousands to the international mission field, supporting career missionaries through cooperative giving, supplying resources to the poor in our city, beautiful creative arts-the harvest is plentiful! BUT imagine if 50 percent gave cheerfully and expectantly, rather than just 20. 70 percent?
What if generous givers (not defined by quantity, but the quality of the giving) weren’t the minority in our church family? What if we transcended the national average? What if we all really believed Jesus when his said, “It is more blessed to give, than to receive.” Can you imagine the harvest of that kind of generosity?
Maybe that is why so many of us struggle with giving generously. We rarely connect our giving to the harvest. We disconnect the giving from the yield. So we either give because that is what we just do, or we don’t at all. Paul says, “be a giver, and watch what God will do with your generosity.”
Do you believe Jesus and Paul? Out of what he has given you, do you give cheerfully and consistently? Is there a rhythm of Gospel generosity in your life?
