One of my grandkids received a bag of their favorite treats for Christmas one year. I was thinking that they would try to eat them all at once and get sick, so we would have to keep an eye out for them.
To my surprise, without any encouragement, he gave all the grandkids one of the treats. I noticed it happening when I heard a couple of the kids say, thanks! When I asked him about it, he said that the other kids liked those treats also.
He was planting seeds of generosity that produced thanksgiving.
God teaches us in Corinthians a principle of sewing seeds of thanksgiving.
- Everything we receive is a seed from God to plant. (V.10.)
God not only promises to provide your need, But He also promises to provide your seed. Everything that God blesses us with is not only to meet a need in our lives, but it is to plant a seed to multiply what He has given us. God expects His blessings to not only reach our hand but to reach our hearts. Our heart is where the fertile soil is to produce more. - God expects us to sew our blessings into other people. (V.11-12.)
God prospers you not to raise your standard of living, but to raise your standard of giving. The blessings that God provides to us, He expects us to sew those blessings into the lives of other people. When we sew into others, we are multiplying God’s blessings in more lives. - Our generosity is proof of our faith in God. (V.13.)
God expects us to not only show our faith by what we say, but by what we give away. When we give to others we show what our faith really means. James said, show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by my works. The apostle Paul said in 2 Cor. 9:7 that God loves a cheerful giver. The work of giving is our faith in action. - When others are blessed it creates more thanksgiving to God. (V.11-13.)
Thanksgiving becomes contagious when our giving is outrageous. The more we give the more thanksgiving is given to God. What God gives us and we give thanks and share with others, creates more thanksgiving to God.
Some people think that they can only give when they get to a point that they can afford it. That’s about like the old saying about not getting married until you can afford it. Listen to this poem about marriage:
The bride bent with age, leaned over her cane,
Her steps, uncertain, needed guiding;
While down the church aisle with a toothless smile,
The groom in a wheelchair came gliding.
And who is this elderly couple thus wed?
You’ll find, when you’ve closely explored it;
That this is that rare, most conservative pair,
Who waited ‘til they could afford it!
Don’t wait until you can afford it, start giving and you will see that it comes back to you multiplied!
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