The Blessing of Giving – October 14, 2022

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
2 Corinthians 9:10,11

The Blessing of Giving

A seed is a small thing, the size of our fingernails at most but often much smaller. And yet from that tiny seed can come large plants and great fruits. The apostle Paul uses the picture of seed and harvest to instruct us on how to give generously. Paul tells us that God supplies the seeds to us and makes the harvest grow. When it comes time to sow again, God will provide the seeds again and again.

An amazing thing happens when Christians sow with the seeds God provides. When they give generously of their material wealth, it spreads and grows into thanksgiving to God. It’s part of a harvest of righteousness.

Maybe you’ve seen the videos of Christians receiving Bibles for the very first time. A remote tribe that never had the Bible translated into their own language before receives the gift of Bibles written in their own language. The whole village shows up dressed in their best. They rejoice, pray, sing, dance, and give thanks to God for the gifts of generous Christians who helped make it possible.

There is great power in the simplest acts of generosity. For the price of Grande latte, we can help put God’s Word in the hands of families who have never owned a bible before. That generosity produces gratitude in the recipients of the gifts. And the recipients of the gifts pray for the ones who have so generously given.

Paul reminds us that the motivation for this giving doesn’t come from compulsion but rather through the confession of the gospel—the good news that our sins are forgiven in Jesus. As God has given so generously to us, so we give so joyfully to others.

Prayer:
Dear Lord, give me a cheerful heart to be generous as you are generous to me. Amen.