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A Giving Heart

Hope Discovery of the Day:

Giving isn’t generous if our hearts are not in it.

Scripture of the Day:

2 Corinthians 9:10-12

“Now God who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your supply of seed and will cause the harvest of your righteousness to grow. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous on every occasion, which is producing through us thanksgiving to God, 12 because the service of this ministry is not only providing for the needs of the saints but is also overflowing with many thanks to God.”

Standing at the grocery store, the feeling of awkwardness was tangible. The lady in front of me was frantically sorting through her wallet, trying to find the money she had. She was short and thought the money had fallen out of her wallet while she was in the store. Panicking, she asked the cashier to check with the manager to see if anyone had turned in lost money.

The LORD spoke to my spirit, “You pay for her order”. Divine appointment by our Sovereign God. Aware of my lack due to impending bills, I knew this was a step of faith. I stepped up to her and said, “I’ll pay the difference.” Astonished, she said, “I don’t know you”. The Holy Spirit nudged me. “But God does”, I said. She began to weep, the cashier was smiling and the people in line behind me began to be in wonder. This is what happens when we step out and let God use us – people around us see God through us – not us. There was a revival that day at cashier stand #9 (ok, I don’t remember the actual cashier lane #, but you get the point).

Giving isn’t generous if our hearts are not in it. But giving joyfully and sacrificially encourages both the giver and the recipient – especially when it meets someone’s need. The motivation for giving matters more than the gift. How we give matters as much as why we give.

But the amazing thing about giving is that we are not really giving at all. Everything we have was given to us and we are merely stewarding and giving from what we have been given. All for the glory of God. Giving takes faith.

Our God is a generous God who did not give begrudgingly toward us. We trust that our God who provided in the first place will do so again.

The fruit of the opportunity I had that night in Wal-mart was thanks and praise being offered to God. No better goal than that. We were made to be incubators of praise toward our loving Creator. Demonstrating His generosity to the world around us helps our culture to see that God is active in our lives and can be in theirs, too.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for giving so we could have the opportunity to be generous for Your glory! Help us to be attentive to the needs around us and to respond.

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