Giving is good.
Think about that a second.
Paul has laid out in this chapter and the previous the notion that giving is a wonderful thing. Generosity is a wonderful experience.
He has already attached giving to love as it expresses that emotion to God and to others. We’ve also remembered that it is love that motivates God to provide us with the things we need for this life. Now Paul reminds us that giving also has rewards. He says, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
Now I want to get one notion that a lot of televangelists have put on this topic. It is true that when we give with joy and gladness in our hearts that God blesses us and we will be rich. The televangelists take that word rich and use it to say that God will pour out all sorts of material wealth on us. That is not the case. Remember money and material wealth are temporary. On the last day they will be destroyed. However, the richness God gives is eternal, while it may include the things of this world, too.
We use the word rich to mean a person has lots of money. God uses the word rich of a person who has lots of blessings – peace, love, joy, and faith. A person who serves might be called rich – whether they have money or not. A family with children and love under its roof is rich. Remember, in God’s economy a woman who gave less than a penny was said by Jesus to have given more than all the others – and to this day we read of her act in the Bible. (Wouldn’t it be a blessing to be considered an example of faith worthy of being written in the Scriptures?)
As I’ve said before giving is more than money, too. Time, enthusiasm, effort, skill and service are great things to give, too.
And why does God bless us and make us rich? “So that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
All of this ties back to the love God has for us to give us life. He had already given us this world we live in. When we sinned he gave his only begotten Son, and Jesus gave his life to win us forgiveness. Jesus also gave us gifts to bring that forgiveness to us – God’s Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. He also gave us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit give us faith, wisdom, comfort, and spiritual fruit in our lives. When we don’t know how to pray he gives us words beyond human understanding. In fact, the Bible says that in Jesus God has given us all things.
Our God likes to give. It gives him joy to bless his children.
And that is what we are, right? God’s children? Giving is part of who we are.
Remember – cheerful, free, not reluctant, not under compulsion, but for the joy of it . . . .
Think about that a second.
Paul has laid out in this chapter and the previous the notion that giving is a wonderful thing. Generosity is a wonderful experience.
He has already attached giving to love as it expresses that emotion to God and to others. We’ve also remembered that it is love that motivates God to provide us with the things we need for this life. Now Paul reminds us that giving also has rewards. He says, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
Now I want to get one notion that a lot of televangelists have put on this topic. It is true that when we give with joy and gladness in our hearts that God blesses us and we will be rich. The televangelists take that word rich and use it to say that God will pour out all sorts of material wealth on us. That is not the case. Remember money and material wealth are temporary. On the last day they will be destroyed. However, the richness God gives is eternal, while it may include the things of this world, too.
We use the word rich to mean a person has lots of money. God uses the word rich of a person who has lots of blessings – peace, love, joy, and faith. A person who serves might be called rich – whether they have money or not. A family with children and love under its roof is rich. Remember, in God’s economy a woman who gave less than a penny was said by Jesus to have given more than all the others – and to this day we read of her act in the Bible. (Wouldn’t it be a blessing to be considered an example of faith worthy of being written in the Scriptures?)
As I’ve said before giving is more than money, too. Time, enthusiasm, effort, skill and service are great things to give, too.
And why does God bless us and make us rich? “So that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
All of this ties back to the love God has for us to give us life. He had already given us this world we live in. When we sinned he gave his only begotten Son, and Jesus gave his life to win us forgiveness. Jesus also gave us gifts to bring that forgiveness to us – God’s Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. He also gave us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit give us faith, wisdom, comfort, and spiritual fruit in our lives. When we don’t know how to pray he gives us words beyond human understanding. In fact, the Bible says that in Jesus God has given us all things.
Our God likes to give. It gives him joy to bless his children.
And that is what we are, right? God’s children? Giving is part of who we are.
Remember – cheerful, free, not reluctant, not under compulsion, but for the joy of it . . . .
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