You will be enriched in every way
so that you can be generous
on every occasion,
and through us your generosity
will result in thanksgiving to God.
2 Corinthians 9:11
The Apostle Paul is speaking to the Corinthian Church in the chosen passage for today.
He is reminding them to give as they can and their generosity will cause thanksgiving to God.
This scripture applies to us today as much as it did to the Corinthian Church.
There are many differing teachings on giving, yet the Bible does not teach giving to get but giving to the glory of God.
The prosperity gospel is appealing to many, but it is not the truth spoken of in God’s Word.
Here, Paul teaches that our giving and generosity should come from a pure heart. To glorify God and to bless others needs to be the motive.
God promises to “enrich us” in every way, meaning God will bless us as we bless others. And He does.
When we cast our seed upon the waters, it returns to us. We become givers, not takers, and that satisfies the heart deep within because it pleases God.
In my life I have found the times when we give ourselves to others to be the most enriching of all.
The most emptiness we feel is in searching for happiness in the things of this world.
Our greatest example of giving is our precious Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Jesus gave His life for us. He gave His all for us. He never gave up on doing good.
We need to exemplify Jesus. We will never do this perfectly. Yet it must be our goal and how far short we will fall, but try, we must.
Most of us love to receive gifts, but many of us are givers too and love to give gifts. Can we do both? Certainly we can.
God promises to enrich us to be givers. That means we draw our strength from Him and He will empower us to be givers.
We have not because we ask not. Are we asking God to help us be generous givers?
It is disheartening when you meet someone who does not give. You can give and give and give and that person will not reciprocate. Not a word of thanks. Zilch. That is the time to remind ourselves the reason for our giving is not the praise of man or a pat on the back.
However, you feel for the person who is too needy to give. The sad thing is, no one needs to stay in that place of being needy. We have Jesus Christ living on the inside. He promises to “enrich” us in every single way so that we can be givers to the maximum. What’s not to give?
We also need to recognize that people give in differing ways. Some give with words, others with deeds.
I remember attending a funeral during the days of Covid. My relative didn’t thank me in so many words for being there for her, yet she sent me home with a huge planter. I take care of it tenderly to this day!
The point of the passage today is to encourage us to be givers not for ulterior motives, but to serve God with enriched hearts and lives.
Let us aim to do this, you and I alike.
And when we apply this principle, we see our lives become enriched in everyway.
It is a good practise to read the Bible. It is even better to apply the Biblical principles to our everyday living.
How we all need these reminders, as we are prone to go our own way.
Wishing you a blessed and beautiful Monday dear reader.