⁶Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ⁹As it is written:    “He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” ¹⁰Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.   ¹²This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. ¹³Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. ¹⁴And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. ¹⁵Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

REFLECTION

1. God gave His Son because he “so loved the world”.  There is no higher motive for Christian giving than the example God set for us than this.  God gave freely and sacrificially, even delightfully.  Paul wrote of the highest motive for giving is love. “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (see 1 Cor 13:3).  We are to give joyfully.  The only way we’re going to give delightfully is to give out of LOVE.  Any other motive leaves one joyless.  In the long run, joyless giving does little good for Christ’s kingdom – and nothing for us.
2. Paul reminded the Corinthians and us of the blessings that make Christians giving such a joy.  (1) Giving benefits us materially and spiritually. (vv8, 10)    (2) Giving permits us to bless others.(vv11,12)  (3) Giving stimulates others to pray for us.(vv13, 14)
3. Do you give compulsively or with careful planning?  Are you a joyful giver, or a reluctant one?  Have you received the blessings Paul talked about?  In all the causes that you donate, is there a need for adjustment?

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me.

If you have a prayer journal, as you listen to God, write down a few thoughts, questions, words, names, drawings, or anything that has come to your mind during this time.

Proverbs for Today 20:8-9

⁸ A king who sits on the throne of judgment
    winnows all evil with his eyes.
⁹ Who can say, “I have made my heart pure;
    I am clean from my sin”?