Devotional Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
Devotional Scripture
“Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality.” – 2 Corinthians 8:12-13
One of the greatest gifts given to a Believer is generosity. The Bible tells us that joy is found when we give. When we give, we’re are reflecting the image of a gracious Father, who is the biggest giver of them all. I know that it can be tempting to not give or slow down you’re giving when you are in lack and want. But we should not allow the fear of not having or the erroneous belief that The Father “needs” anything from us, as He is not “served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything”. When we sow back into The Kingdom, we’re acknowledging Him as the Source of all things and we demonstrating our thanks to Him for supplying our needs.
Many of our beliefs about sowing into The Kingdom have been beaten into us many times by preachers who need monies to pay a bill. They view you, not God, as their Source and so they manipulate and coerce you to reach deep down into your pocket to receive our Father’s “extra special” blessings. This is erroneous and must end. We can’t allow the false doctrine of the fleecers, deceivers and manipulators to hinder us from sowing. To truly experience the joy of giving, we must change our stinking thinking on giving.
God is not moved by the size of your gift, instead He cares about what your gift costs you, as for giving to become worship, it must cost you something. It must be sacrificial, as obedience is better than the sacrifice, because if worship commanded, then it is not truly worship. When we give because we have to, it becomes legalistic. When we give because we feel like we need to, its done out of obligation. But when we give when we’re lead to and want to, out of the depths of your heart, that’s love. And our Father knows that the greatest joy in the world is found in giving of ourselves and our resources because “He so the loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son . . .” (John 3:16).
If you are currently giving to a church or to a ministry, examine why you are giving to that particular ministry. Are you giving simply because you feel like you have to? Are you giving because you are being guilted to give? Or because you need to? Or are you giving because you simply want to bless the Lord with your gift? If you are not currently giving any money to further the cause of Christ, you should search your heart to find out why you are not giving. Don’t succumb to the schemes assigned to hinder your abundance harvest. Eliminate every obstacle to your giving as He has promised that He will satisfy every need!
Contributed by: Pastor Yolanda Douthit