How can I apply the Word to my life?
- How can you glorify God with the way you spend your time, money, and resources?
- What challenges are you facing in the area of generosity? How will the things that you learned today be of help as you overcome those challenges?
- How can you exercise your generosity in your work, school, or career? Think about the small and big opportunities you have to bless people around you.
- Pray that God will give everyone the grace to give generously and joyfully
- Pray that God will break the mindsets that are hindering each one from giving extravagantly
- Pray that we will trust God in the area of our finances.
WEEK 3: Generosity
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- What is the most special gift you have ever received or you have ever given to someone?
- If you become the richest person in the world, what would you do with your money?
We’ve all heard it said, “It is better to give than to receive.” Many of us are excited to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays and Christmas - especially when we know that we’re going to receive gifts. But when it comes to its counterpart – giving – our natural reaction is quite the opposite. How do we learn to become generous with our resources and become cheerful and extravagant givers that God wants us to be? Let’s look at how God’s grace worked in the lives of the Macedonian believers, which Paul has commended in the book of Corinthians:
- Letting the Fruits Overflow
“…for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.” - 2 Corinthians 8:2
Paul urged the Corinthians to follow the exemplary generosity of the Macedonian church, who in extreme or rock bottom poverty were able to give not only “as much” as they were able, but even beyond their means. Despite the persecutions and poverty they were facing, they were not overtaken by doubts, fear, or desire to hoard what they have. Rather, God’s Spirit enabled them to overflow with a joy so abundant, which they expressed outwardly through sacrificial generosity. How does the Holy Spirit work in us even when it’s difficult to give? (Read also Gal. 5:25)
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- Making a Conscious Choice
“for they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord”- 2 Corinthians 8:3
Something done of one's “own accord” or means “free choice”. Giving from their hearts, the Macedonians showed that their security is not in their wealth, but in the God who holds the universe and whose riches are unlimited. How does God’s grace help us give our money, time, or other resources willingly to Him, to the church, and to other people?
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- Living a Lifestyle of Worship
“…and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.”-2 Corinthians 8:5
Throughout the Bible, God commands his people to bring Him offerings as part of their worship. By living a life of generosity, we get to understand God’s heart better, reflect His nature, and be a channel of His blessings to the people around us. Through God’s grace, all this is possible. As we realize the unimaginable generosity that God has shown us through his Son Jesus Christ, we’ll see this command as a joy and privilege, and never as a heavy burden to fulfill.
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