This month, we have talked a lot about the spiritual discipline of giving, so today, I want to reflect on the giving character of the God we worship. God gave us forever life with Him when we deserved forever death and separation from Him, and Scripture details how God has given us this gift all throughout human history.
God gave life to all creation (Genesis 1 and 2), and He sustains that creation, including our very lives, today (Hebrews 1:3).
God gave hope in the form of a Messiah that would come to repair the relationship broken by our rebellion (Genesis 3).
God gave Sarah a child in her old age that would multiply into God’s chosen people of Israel (Genesis 21:2).
God gave Joseph to the people of Egypt to spare countless lives (Genesis 41).
God gave Moses to the Israelites to free them from oppression (Exodus 3).
God gave the Law so that His people could walk closer to Him while they waited for the Messiah to arrive (Exodus 20).
God gave the promised land to Israel after incredible disobedience and unbelief (Joshua 1).
God gave Hannah a child (1 Samuel 1).
God gave Israel a King, even though that directly insulted God’s leadership of their people (1 Samuel 8).
God gave David, a leader that Israel desperately needed and could never have expected (1 Samuel 17).
God gave the prophets in an attempt to pull His beloved people back to Himself (Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, etc.).
God gave an exile that ultimately pulled Israel back to Himself (2 Kings 24)..
God gave Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3).
God gave His Son so that whoever believes may not perish (John 3:16).
Jesus gave patience toward those who did not understand His purpose (Luke 22).
Jesus gave hope to the outcasts (Luke 19).
Jesus gave wisdom to ears that would hear (Matthew 11:15).
Jesus gave Himself for all creation through His death (Matthew 27).
Jesus gave Peter a 4th chance to claim Him (John 21).
Jesus gave His disciples to the world to spread the news of salvation (Matthew 28).
Jesus gave The Spirit to the terrified disciples in the upper room (Acts 2).
The Spirit gives us joy, love, peace, goodness, etc. (Galatians 5).
The Spirit gives hope that Jesus Reigns, and He wants a relationship with us (Revelation).
The Father gave Jesus.
Jesus gave His life.
The Spirit gives us intimate communion with the Trinity forever.
That is the legacy of an awesome God, and He is worthy of more than everything we could give Him.
So, what will your legacy be? When we say that we want to become like Jesus, we are saying that we want to give as He gave. Will your life say:
(Your name) gave their talents within the body of believers (1 Corinthians 12).
_________ gave their time toward what God was calling them to do.
_________ gave their money to a vision given to them by King Jesus.
_________ gave more than they thought they could.
Or will your life say:
_________ gave their time, money, and resources to their own happiness and goals.
Here at Centerville Grace, we work to transform our community through intentional disciple-making. This discipleship process helps both the disciple-maker and the disciple draw nearer to Jesus by becoming more like Him.
When we become more like Jesus, we can more clearly see how God is using us in our surroundings. Notice that a lot of the things God gave were people. When we pray for God to act, He will often send us with the power of the Spirit to accomplish His will. However, it is much harder for God to use us when we are not listening to Him.
This is why it is so important to be studying the Bible on a daily basis. We are naturally bent toward pride, selfishness, and greed, but the Bible points us to the humble, selfless, and giving nature of Jesus. When I am in the Word, I more fully enjoy the gifts that the Spirit offers me, as I humble myself under His vision and perspective.
When I am in the Word, Jesus increases; when I am not, I increase (John 3:30).
Will you humble yourself to give like Jesus gave?
Will you allow yourself to decrease so that He will increase?
How will you respond to the Gospel? Will you continue to take and consume, or will you give to others as Jesus gave to you?
– Hank
