The Joy of Giving By Paul Chappell share on Facebook share on Twitter forward to a friend Tuesday, Sep 9, 2014 “Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.” 2 Corinthians 8:1–4 The church at Ephesus was one of the strongest and most fruitful of all the churches Paul established. He spent a great deal of time with them and did his best to instruct them in all that God wanted them to know. On his way back to Jerusalem for the final time, Paul met with the leaders of this great church for a last time of instruction. During that meeting Paul said, “I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). The things that we have are not really ours. We hold them as stewards—it all belongs to God. Yet too often we become so attached to our money and possessions that they become more important to us than they should be. Instead of focusing on the eternal, we become obsessed with the temporal. There are many problems with this approach, but often overlooked is that when we are materialistic and unwilling to give, we lose out on the joy that can only be found in using our resources to help others. There is great joy in knowing that we are being part of God’s work and helping to meet the needs of others. Today’s Renewal Principle: When we regard giving as a joy and privilege, we are looking at our resources the way God means for us to view them.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 16:15:03 +0000