The Blessing of Giving

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Money:  A Tool or a Want

2 Corinthians 9:5-15

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.”

                  What is the hardest thing to surrender to God?  We readily give God the guilt of our sins because he has promised forgiveness.  We continually give God our problems and concerns, for he promises to help us in our time of need.  We even give God our time, for that seems noble, and assisting others always gives us a good feeling that we have benefited someone else life.  However, when asked to give up our money, we clutch our wallets like Scrooge and cry, “Mine!”  Of all the things God asks of us, the hardest thing to give up is our money because we see money as the tool we use to buy our happiness and security in this world.  We are reluctant to give it up.  

                  As Paul writes to the church at Corinth, he commends them for their generosity and sets forth why we give generously to God and His people.  Having commended them for their gifts, Paul reminds them that when we give, we are to give with the right attitude and for the right reasons.  We can give to God and His work because God generously rewards those who do so.  God always desires to give to His children.  When we speak of God’s attributes, we often overlook the generosity that He continually displays.  God delights to give generously and freely to His children.  It is intrinsic in His nature and the expression of His love.  The full expression of His generosity is revealed in our salvation.  He freely gave us the grace to cancel the debt of our worst sin.  That is an immeasurable gift that we cannot even begin to fathom its value.  Even with such a gift, God has given us something even more remarkable.  His extreme generosity not only moved Him to save us from sin, but it also moved Him to provide us with the one gift that is beyond all value and comprehension:  He gave us the gift of being co-heirs with Christ so that we become participants and partakers of all the blessings He shares with His Son.  So incredible is His generosity that we cannot even begin to fathom its value.  We can only gaze with wonder. 

God’s generosity is further bestowed upon us in His care for us.  Paul points out in verse 8 that God generously bestows all grace upon us so that we have everything we need for life.  We need nothing more than what He has already promised and provided.  Because of this generosity, we are to have a different attitude towards our possessions and wealth.  Because we do not need anything more than He has already provided, we can freely give to the needs of others and the ministry of the church.  Wealth is no longer necessary for life, security, and happiness, for God has provided all these things freely to us in His Son.  Therefore, we can use our wealth to bless others and further God’s kingdom.  Instead of seeing our wealth as the vessel for our happiness, we are to see it as a tool to use for God’s glory. We can freely surrender our wealth to God, for He has the assurance that He will care for us. Rather than hoarding in fear,  we can give liberally, for in our liberality, we discover the joy of God’s blessing. This confronts us with the question:  Are we using our wealth for God’s glory and His kingdom's advancement, or are we using it for our pleasures?  To hoard our wealth is to miss out on the blessings God delights giving us.  God blesses us with wealth, not for our pleasure, but that we might use our wealth as a tool for his kingdom (vs. 10). Instead of being a miser, be a giver. Then, you will discover that God will bless you beyond measure, and he will supply your needs (vs. 11-12).

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