Today's Scripture:
2 Corinthians 8:1, 7
And now, brothers, we
want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches ...
But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in
complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this
grace of giving.
Today's Thought:
Grace exhibits itself in many ways - in our words, in our
pursuit of knowledge, in our sincerity, and in our love. But another way grace works in our lives is
that we become givers. The Macedonian
churches are praised by Paul as being an example of this - they gave even in
their poverty, even beyond what anyone would have thought they could give.
Many people want to be recognized as excelling in one
particular field or another. We want to
excel in our rhetoric. We want to excel
in our careers. We want to excel in our
knowledge. Few however want to excel in
the grace of giving.
A sure sign of our recognition that all we have is a gift
from God is our willingness to share with others. We must resist the urge to consume all we
have on ourselves. We must resist the
urge to be miserly or tightfisted. We
must seek opportunities to give and generously share with those in need. What does it say about us if we ignore a
world in need while we live more than comfortably?
As recipients of God's grace we should naturally become
imitators of Him and give. Jesus himself
once said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
Today's Prayer:
Giving God, place within our hearts a desire to give like
you. Help us to see needs and, rather
than turn a blind eye, let us respond.
Help us to excel in the grace of giving as we continue the work that
your Son began. We know that all we have
is from you. Let us see our blessings as
you equipping us to bless others. In Jesus'
name we pray. Amen
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