The Gift of Giving
The Book of Proverbs
Proverbs Chapter 11
Scripture= Proverbs chapter 11:4, 24, 25, 28 (The Message)
4 A thick bankroll is no help when life falls apart, but a principled life can stand up to the worst.
24 The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.
25 The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.
28 A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.
Observation=The questions that must be asked after reading these four verses from Proverbs chapter 11 are, “Will your checkbook or your integrity build your reputation? Do you trust in people or money? Do you believe in relationships or possessions?”
The real question is, “Why do you think God blesses us with financial gain?” Yes, there is a reward for hard work and sound investments but what you build your security on will determine what you do with your assets. God is all about relationships and your success is an opportunity to express God’s goodness to others. WE ARE BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING!
Application= One of the attributes of God that seldom makes the lists’ that describe God’s character is that God ‘is a giving God.’ The same as God loves because God ‘is love’; God gives because God ‘is giving.’ It is his nature to give and he IS ALWAYS GOOD! In the same way that God bestows to us his love and enables us to love as he loves, he puts in us his benevolence and enables us to give. We are blessed to possess the kindness of God within us, and if we understand why we have been blessed, we can experience the full measure of the truth, “it is more blessed to give than receive.” We can bestow to others the blessings of God!
What reputation will describe and sum up who we are in this world? Will be known as being very wealthy or Will we be known as someone who was very generous? Will we be known as someone who has as much money as God or someone who was like God in their giving?
Prayer= Lord Jesus, help me to see how blessed I truly am. May I be an instrument of your goodness to others through my giving. Holy Spirit, show me where I am living out the lie, ‘that I am God and in control of what I possess.’ Lord Jesus, I am your steward and a steward is not judged by what they have, but by how faithful they are in doing the work of their master with what they have been given.
