The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:6-8)
It’s vital that we continue to give during an economic downturn, and not only because our faith communities and charities depend on our giving. We give because we need to give. The Holy Spirit is continually at work shaping and growing our hearts, leading us to reflect the generosity of God’s nature, as well as the depths of God’s self-giving nature made known in Jesus. As we give, we experience the deeper joy of growing into the full stature of Christ.
One advantage of thinking about our giving in terms of giving away a percentage of our income is that it helps us adjust our giving as our income goes up or down. When we have less money coming in, we can give less, but do so knowing that our relative generosity is unchanged.
- ACTION:
- Review your giving, setting it in the context of your income.
- Do you know what percentage of your income you give back?
- PAUSE for REFLECTION:
- The passage above challenges us to give cheerfully.
- One way of increasing the joy found from giving is to become deeply aware of how your purpose is aligned with God’s purpose of shalom, which is the Biblical understanding of peace that comes from living in right relationship with each other and all of creation.
- Understanding your purpose leads to joyful giving