06.18.17 | Why Bother?
Why Bother With Generosity?
Noel Heikkinen
2 Corinthians 8-9
Generosity can be a tricky thing because of what we choose to be generous with. Some are generous with their time, some are generous with their money, and some are generous with their hospitality. Pastor Noel Jesse Heikkinen sheds light on what Scripture has to say about generosity, specifically with our money and giving. Through Christ’s example of generosity shown through His entire life, it can direct us to how we can be generous as well.
Various Scriptures
- Live Notes
…give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.
I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.
“There is a tendency when we read the Bible passages that speak of money or rich people to apply them to someone else. We invariably look at the person in the next higher income bracket and transfer the teaching of such passages to him. We too easily forget that there is someone in the next lower income range who is looking at us and applying the teaching to us! Each of us is a rich person to someone else; therefore these teachings apply to all of us.”
– Charles Ryrie
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