January has come and gone and we have spent the month wrestling through this very question and focusing on “Daily Devotion”. So what is the answer to… Now What? What is your answer? I Hope that focusing on the word this month and talking about that question has led to some form of guidance. As a leadership team we do have a response to that question and it is our focus for the next month. As a body, we will focus together on “Giving Generously” for the month of February. These two words are both loaded with meaning and purpose if we would allow ourselves to find it. One of the best ways to determine what “Give Generously” means… and how you are to fulfill that… is to reflect on ways that you have seen that act done in your life.
Reflecting is a healthy way to constantly force yourself to learn from not only your past, but also from other people that may or may not have been trying to teach you something. On top of that reality we know that God intentionally crosses our path with certain people to help us, grow us, convict us, and challenge us. So if God is moving through the “generous” people in your life. What makes them “generous”? Consider the ways that people “give” to other people. More specifically, How have people “given” to you in the past month? Have you ever “given” like that for another person? DUSTIN WHY ARE YOU USING QUOTATIONS?!!? Great question. The answer to that is the whole point of this article.
Matthew 6:1-4(which you should have read this last week on your own) talks about “giving” to other people. Jesus says “your right hand should not know what your left is doing”. Let’s really look at that. If my right hand is unaware of what the left is doing, then there is no way for anyone to claim what really is generous, and what really is giving because no one can see it. What you call “Generous Giving” is different than what I call the same exact thing. So how do you know if what you are doing is in fact “generous”? Welcome to the center of this article! The only way to know…… is to turn your “giving” into a spiritual exercise. God speaks when we ask, and this may come as a surprise but God is honest. So when He says you are not a generous person you know you can listen, and when he says don’t beat yourself up, you can find peace in what you are doing. This discipline is absolutely… 100%.... no questions about it…. Between YOU and GOD….. That’s it.
C.S. Lewis says this….. “I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little”….. Opinions are relative, expectations are relative….. but Truth is Truth and that is the only language God knows how to speak….. If you want to “give generously” this month….. I would spend some real quality time listening to truth…. Instead of other people…. Or yourself. None of what our church is accomplishing would be possible without you as individuals, your talents, your personalities, your failures, and ultimately your passion. Please continue to lift up this body, please continue to ask for the Spirit’s guidance, please pray for our leadership, and see that all of you are making all of this possible. For the glory of Christ, and for the souls of those that are lost we will move forward as ONE body. Thank you again for everything this body does to Move God’s Kingdom.
Grace and Peace,