THE PROCESS OF GIVING

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In Christ, Mark

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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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