Principles to Guide Your Giving
In this second piece on giving, I want to provide some principles to guide your prayers and thinking on giving, especially giving to church. Let’s begin by reading 2 Corinthians 8:1-9.
1 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. 6 So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 9 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 through his poverty might become rich.
There are four things that flow out of this passage:
Give yourself to the Lord.
My greatest prayer for you (and all people) is that you might come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and commit yourself to serving him with your life. When you do this everything changes as you seek to follow Christ and be a part of his church just as other new Christians did in the early church (2 Corinthians 8:5). Our Mission is to be building wholehearted disciples of Jesus Christ. We don’t want to see you just give yourself to the Lord but also grow up in him as part of the church community for his glory. And so, if you have any questions about what knowing Jesus Christ means, please speak with one of our ministers.
Giving flows out of a spirit of thankfulness.
Paul finishes this challenging giving passage on a strong note of grace to ensure that there is no confusion about what ought motivate not only our giving but all our lives (2 Corinthians 8:8-9). Christ died so that we may live - and this is grace - and this grace motivates Christians to give thankfully so that others may come to know Jesus too as we all grow up in Christ. We don’t give out of obligation or demand, but because Christ first gave himself for us. We all give, no matter how much we earn, because we are all thankful for Christ’s work in us.
Giving is cheerful and joyous, yet sacrificial.
Paul described the Macedonian Christians as being “in the midst of severe trial” and in “extreme poverty” yet they had “overflowing joy” and “rich generosity” (2 Corinthians 8:2). How could they be in dire straits financially yet be so generous in giving? They saw giving as a privilege to serve the Lord’s people so they may keep growing as Christians (2 Corinthians 8:4). They saw their giving as an expression of their partnership with the work of the church to see others come to know Jesus. And they knew that work was more important than anything else so they sacrificed to ensure it could continue.
Giving flows out of a spirit of generosity.
There is ‘giving’ and there is giving. Giving $2 a week to church when we spend $20 a week on coffee is indeed giving, but is that truly “giving”? The Macedonian church gave an amount “beyond their ability” (2 Corinthians 8:3). This means that the amount they gave was not just money that they had left over after they met all their household expenses; it was an amount that caused them to forego some things in life for the sake of the gospel. In life, we always commit finances to what matters most and our giving to church ought to reflect that.
Friends, there is no more important work in the world than sharing the Good News of Jesus and helping Christians grow. This work takes place in the local church family more than anywhere else and God has given the church a special role to play in His plan of salvation. As partners with the church and those served by the church, we should first support the work of the local church (Galatians 6:6). Lights need to be turned on, resources need to be available and staff need to be paid for the work of the church to advance for the glory of God.
Head to the Giving page and prayerfully consider the way you will use the financial gifts that God gives you this year to see the Gospel go forward.
