In God We Trust Series - Lives of Generosity

Throughout the New Testament, the early Christian church was marked by followers with lives steeped in generosity. Many of these people were in extreme poverty, like the Macedonian people Paul uses as an example in 2 Corinthians 8-9. These people, though they had little resources, gave relief to other Christians and funded Paul’s mission trips to much wealthier areas and churches. It is in this context that Paul encourages the (much wealthier) Corinthian church to be generous in 2 Corinthians 9:6-15. The heart of Paul’s message is not to shame them for their greed, but to paint a picture of what they are missing out on when they do not give generously. When we give cheerfully, we share in the love of God for others- who for our sake gave up the riches of the entire universe to become poor in the form of Jesus (2 Cor 8:9). There will always be questions of “how much” or “in what situations” when it comes to giving, and instead of having firm answers here, these are better answered by further examination of our heart and motives. Does our giving create a burden on the lifestyle we would want for ourselves? Does our giving bring us joy as we see how God uses it to further His gospel message? Does our giving cause us to be reminded of the fact that nothing is ours?