EXCELLENCE IN GIVING

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

2 Corinthians 8:6-7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Over the past couple messages, particularly in chapter 8 of 2 Corinthians, we have been focusing on the matter of giving. This has been prompted by Paul’s words as he writes to the Christians in Corinth and focuses on their blessed generosity expressed through the charitable donations sent to the church in Jerusalem.

In the last message, we saw where this blessed generosity is really born out of a two step process. First, one needs to give themselves fully to the Lord, submitting to Him completely. When a person does this, then the outcome is that they trust that the Lord will provide for their needs and therefore can give freely as the Lord desires, fully acknowledging that they are really giving away what is rightfully His, not theirs.

Now, this sounds easy if we look at it in a vacuum but life is a marathon, not a sprint. Blessed generosity is something that is expected to persevere over a lifetime. So how can we continue to sustain excellence in our giving? How can we ensure that we are pleasing God with our benevolence, whether to the church or elsewhere, for the long run?

We find Paul giving us some insight to answering these questions in our passage for today. Look again at his words here:

So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 2 Corinthians 8:6-7

I don’t know about you but I was taught from a very young age that success typically comes from a lot of hard work. You have to be dedicated and committed to be the best you can be at whatever you are doing.

Now, most people do this in regard to one thing. Maybe it’s as a student, attending college. It could be someone who is employed in a certain vocation. It could also be someone who has some special skill like music or art. All of these instances and more could create an environment where a person might be laser-focused on one undertaking with the goal of being a standout in what they do.

When it comes to our spiritual lives, we need to be just as devoted to allowing the Lord to help us become the people He wants us to be in whatever He calls us to do. It’s obvious through the words of Paul that the Corinthian Christians had excelled in many different spiritual disciplines. Specifically, he mentions their faith, speech, knowledge, and love, all things that Paul and his fellow missionaries had tried to teach and show the believers there. The Jesus followers of Corinth had practiced all these earnestly but Paul wanted them to pursue one other matter with the same level of intent and that was the matter of giving.

It’s important to read all of his words here. For it wasn’t just giving that Paul asked the Corinthian Christians to excel in. They were also to excel in grace, specifically in this case, the grace of giving.

How does this change the dynamic of giving, especially from a Christian perspective?

We need to look at grace through the eyes of the Lord to find the answer.

As an easy way to remember what grace really means, I have always liked to look at the word like an acronym:

God’s

Reward

At

Christ’s

Expense

Note here that no one does anything to earn this gift from God. It is received when a person believes in Jesus as Savior by faith. Works are not required to gain the gift of salvation. God grants it freely through His Son.

Now apply this concept of grace to the matter of giving. We are to give freely and unconditionally to others as God directs through His will. He will lead us to give, not just when but how much. When we do this, we will always be assured that we are giving as God desires and therefore giving with excellence.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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THE PROCESS OF GIVING

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.

2 Corinthians 8:5

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

How do we get to the place where we give in the way the Lord desires, a place of blessed generosity as we looked at in the last message?

As we see in verse 5 of 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, the Apostle Paul tells us it is a two-step process. Look at his words again here:

And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.

Paul had anticipated that the Corinthian church would make a contribution to help the church in Jerusalem but their blessed generosity exceeded all his expectations.

How did they achieve this?

First, they first gave themselves to the Lord and this included all that they were and all that they had. They came to realize that they were only alive because God had granted them grace. They also came to understand that anything they had was provided by the God they gave themselves to.

God gives life.

God gives all that a person needs to live life.

The Corinthians held this spiritual view and we would be well served to hold it today for ourselves, placing our full focus on God and God alone as the source of every good and perfect thing from above.

With their focus fully on God, giving Him all that they were and attributing to Him all that they had, the Christians in Corinth were primed to carry out the will of their Lord. This will of the Lord is what led them to exceed Paul’s expectations in the way they contributed to the cause of the Jerusalem church. God had not just called them to give but to give in abundance with a trust that He would continue to provide for their needs if they gave sacrificially.

The key to giving in ways that defy expectations is to first devote all that you are to God. Give of yourself to Him just as fully as He gives of Himself to you. This dedicated surrender will allow the Lord to dictate what He wants through His will and part of that will is always going to be giving to others to make a difference in the lives of those who are in need.

In our next message, we’ll see how we can achieve excellence in the way we give.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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BLESSED GENEROSITY

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in His kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.

For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem.

2 Corinthians 8:1-4 (NLT)

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Lord wants us to be a giving people. There is no question about this and the scriptures declare it. Consider these verses:

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7

A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great. Proverbs 18:16

A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Proverbs 11:25

You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:11

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Proverbs 3:27

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” Matthew 19:21

“...the righteous give generously.” Psalm 37:21

Certainly, there are many more but you get the idea. God blesses us with His provision to not only help us live but He wants us to share what we have with those in need as well. He gives to us in great abundance and He expects us to follow suit in the way we live. The Lord desires that we adopt a spirit of blessed generosity in the way we help others.

As we look at the first four verses of 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, we see the Apostle Paul trying to instill this giving spirit in the church of Corinth and its Christian believers, using other Christian churches as an example. Look again at his words here:

Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in His kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.

For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem.  2 Corinthians 8:1-4 (NLT)

To fully understand what was happening, I need to provide a little background, particularly in regard to the “believers in Jerusalem” that Paul mentions were the recipients of the blessed generosity extended by the “churches in Macedonia” which included Thessalonica and Philippi.

You will recall that after Jesus’ crucifixion and Stephen’s stoning, persecution ran rampant in Jerusalem against Christians. Many of the Jesus believers there were pushed into poverty and treated like outcasts. Great hardship and suffering came upon them just because they professed their faith in Jesus as Lord.

Paul was on a campaign to raise funds to help support the Jerusalem Christians and he had solicited all the churches outside of Jerusalem to contribute. We read where the Macedonian believers were "tested by many troubles" and poor as well but this didn't stop the churches from showing rich, blessed generosity. The scriptures tell us that “they gave not only what they could afford, but far more” and did so with “abundant joy”. In fact, the Macedonian believers begged for the privilege to give. Such was their desire to provide for the needs of their brother and sister Christians in Jerusalem.

How could the Macedonian believers adopt such an attitude of blessed generosity?

It comes down to God. He was the One who instigated the work of the Macedonian churches through His kindness and He is the One who has guided believers to give ever since.

One thing’s for sure. When we allow the Lord’s will and way to be our own, then we will be a giving people, a people obedient to our Father’s calling as relayed through His Word and Holy Spirit.

Indeed, God loves a cheerful giver for they are carrying out what He has told them to do to bring blessed generosity to others and glory to His holy name.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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SPIRIT-REFRESHING HOSPITALITY

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well. And his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all obedient, receiving him with fear and trembling. I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.

2 Corinthians 7:13b-16

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Paul was a letter writer who you could call fair but firm in the correspondence he penned and sent to Christian churches in first century A.D. He wrote words of condemnation and correction but he balanced this with words of praise as well. Perhaps we could learn a lot from Paul’s approach in how we deal with others because I think we can be too quick to criticize and not as quick to compliment in the words we use, whether spoken or written.

In regard to the latter, complimentary words written by Paul to a person or group of people, we see such a display in the final verses of 2 Corinthians, chapter 7. Look again at his words here:

In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well. And his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all obedient, receiving him with fear and trembling. I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.  2 Corinthians 7:13b-16

The Corinthian Christians had welcomed Paul with open arms and treated him well during his visit to Corinth. He consistently thanks them for their wonderful hospitality in the two letters to them and we read that Titus, who visited after Paul, was treated the same way, much to Paul’s delight. In fact, Paul shares Titus’ testimony that his spirit was refreshed by the great hospitality he experienced in Corinth. This is something that made Paul feel good because he had endorsed the Corinthian Christians to Titus and they hadn’t let him down, something that would have caused Paul great embarrassment. Paul’s boasting was reinforced and for that, he had even greater confidence in the believers worship in the Corinth church.

What was the byproduct of Titus’ experience of spirit-refreshing hospitality?

It produced great affection within Titus’s heart for the Corinthian church. They all had been “obedient, receiving him with fear and trembling” which was code for deep respect. This is really at the heart of hospitality, right? Respect and love for your guest or guests. The church in Corinth served their visiting Gospel; missionary well and, in turn, he left with feelings of fondness and love for them.

As we have our opportunities to host someone, we should follow the lead of the Corinthian believers, intentionally seeking to provide spirit-refreshing hospitality that ultimately pleases, honors, and glorifies the Lord. We’re called to do so by the scriptures and when we allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us, we will always be obedient to that calling.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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