2 Corinthians 9:6–10 (ESV) —
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written,
“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
NOTE: As I reflect on our years of giving, both my wife and I started giving as soon as we came to Christ. It was a natural part of the rebirth. Over the years we grew our giving by always giving more than the growth of our income. There were two occasions when I changed jobs where we needed to dial back our giving for a year, but usually we were above where we had been in less than a year. Spiritually, we grew a lot all those years. We made an impact in the ministries where we served. I credit a lot of that to a spirit of giving -- God blessed. We had to scale back our giving when I retired too, but all of our needs are met and we are increasing our giving once again. We have not given to get rich, but we are rich in every way because we gave sacrificially.
PONDER:
- Where is your giving today?
- Do you give because you have to or because you want to?
PRAYER: Father, you have blessed us in many ways. Some of it has certainly been materially, but most of it has been spiritually. You have given us the blessing of making an impact in the lives of the people around us. And that is the greatest blessing one can have.
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