“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.”― Benjamin Disraeli
My heart is full of joy this morning. I recently received an overwhelming gift. Many of my friends have as well. In my case, someone paid for my entire family to go to a life-changing conference. Among my friends, one received financing for a book project, another was blessed with a new car, another received long-awaited professional counsel at no charge, another received funding for a photography project. The list goes on…
But there’s more. All of these gifts had one common result—they empowered the recipient to do what God had called them to do. The gift-givers didn’t give out of duty or obligation or worse, pity. They gave with a heart to empower the work of God.
This is the Abrahamic covenant in action. We are blessed to be a blessing. (Genesis 12: 1-3) God was up to something amazing when He released this promise. He began a domino effect that has carried on for thousands of years.
Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it’s in your power to help them. Proverbs 3:27
The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. Proverbs 11:25
–See that you also excel in this grace of giving. 2 Corinthians 8:7
You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:11
That is exactly what happened. Each of the gift-receivers praised God for His faithfulness. Don’t miss this. God is teaching us to be like Him. Out of His abundance, He “graciously gives us all things.” (Romans 8:32) His holy intention is to produce in us a righteous harvest. In layman’s terms, good fruit. He plants His good seed in us so that we will in turn have an abundant harvest to plant good seed in others. Is God smart or what?
As I re-read this quote from Disraeli, I thanked the Lord for stirring our hearts to be generous. This is truly the church being the church when we give of ourselves to empower others to walk in the grace of God.
So I want to give a shout out to obedience. Every one of those gift-givers had to hear from the Lord and obey His instruction to give. Every one of those gift-givers had to trust that God would provide more if they sacrificed to give to others. Thank you for every gift (time, talent, money) you have given out of obedience to the Lord. People are thanking God because of you.
I want to give a shout out to being blessed. We need to be able to receive God’s blessing as much as we are give blessings. We need to learn to be good gift-receivers. At first, none of us, myself included, knew what to do with these extravagant gifts. But then it became clear.
Thank God. Invest the gift. Give to others. Ah. The domino effect carries on.
The Kingdom of God is lavish. It is time we really get that abundance is part of our inheritance. The more we give, truly the more God pours out. Blessed to be a blessing.
What an incredible God…