March 06
Giving: A Little or a Lot?
Remember this: the person who plants a little will have a small harvest, but the person who plants a lot will have a big harvest. … God loves the person who gives happily.
II Corinthians 9:6,7 (NCV)
Whoever gives to the poor will have everything he needs….
Proverbs 28:27a (NCV)
… good people give without holding back.
Proverbs 21:26b (NCV)
I know people who struggle with this whole idea of giving sacrificially. Maybe it’s the desire for more things, but usually it’s the need to feel secure and they wrongly assume money will guarantee security. But money can’t. Security—that’s God’s business.
The Apostles and the early church followed Jesus’s example and made giving to the poor a priority. If we are true Christ-followers, doesn’t it make sense to follow His example too?
Ronald Sider points out, “Only by God’s grace and with great effort can we escape the shower of luxuries which has almost suffocated our Christian compassion.” He then says he once bought an extra suit for $50 (at a 75% discount) but later grappled with the fact that $50 would feed a starving child in India for an entire year!
He goes on, “In all honesty, we have to ask ourselves: Dare we care at all about current fashions if that means reducing our ability to help hungry neighbors? Dare we care more about obtaining a secure economic future for our family than for living an uncompromising Christian lifestyle? … Sharing with others is the way to real joy.”
I am being stretched. And yes … I do believe this is the way to real joy. Do you?
Father, I do a little, help me do more. By faith in You and in Your power take my little and make it much. Amen.
Giving: A Little or a Lot?
Remember this: the person who plants a little will have a small harvest, but the person who plants a lot will have a big harvest. … God loves the person who gives happily.
II Corinthians 9:6,7 (NCV)
Whoever gives to the poor will have everything he needs….
Proverbs 28:27a (NCV)
… good people give without holding back.
Proverbs 21:26b (NCV)
I know people who struggle with this whole idea of giving sacrificially. Maybe it’s the desire for more things, but usually it’s the need to feel secure and they wrongly assume money will guarantee security. But money can’t. Security—that’s God’s business.
The Apostles and the early church followed Jesus’s example and made giving to the poor a priority. If we are true Christ-followers, doesn’t it make sense to follow His example too?
Ronald Sider points out, “Only by God’s grace and with great effort can we escape the shower of luxuries which has almost suffocated our Christian compassion.” He then says he once bought an extra suit for $50 (at a 75% discount) but later grappled with the fact that $50 would feed a starving child in India for an entire year!
He goes on, “In all honesty, we have to ask ourselves: Dare we care at all about current fashions if that means reducing our ability to help hungry neighbors? Dare we care more about obtaining a secure economic future for our family than for living an uncompromising Christian lifestyle? … Sharing with others is the way to real joy.”
I am being stretched. And yes … I do believe this is the way to real joy. Do you?
Father, I do a little, help me do more. By faith in You and in Your power take my little and make it much. Amen.
posted by Craig Soderquist at 6:36 AM
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