What happens inside you when you see a need? Maybe someone is struggling financially. A family needs help. A ministry has an opportunity. Someone needs your time, your attention, your resources, or something you own. You recognize the need, and almost immediately you have to decide.
Do I open my hand, or do I close it?
An open hand sees what it has and asks, “How could God use what He has given me to help?” A closed hand sees the same need and immediately begins calculating what generosity might cost. What if I need this later? What if there isn't enough? What if I give this away and wish I had kept it?
Most of us want to think of ourselves as generous people. But generosity isn't really revealed by what we say we would do if we had more. Generosity is revealed by what we do with what is already in our hands.
That's what makes the image of an open or closed hand so powerful. A closed hand can hold onto what it has, but it also can't receive or release anything. An open hand is willing to trust that what God has placed there doesn't have to stop there.
So maybe the question isn't simply, “Am I generous?” A better question might be: When God puts a need in front of me and an opportunity to be generous in my hands, what is my first instinct: open or closed?
In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul challenges Christians to open their hands to meet the needs of other believers. These weren't necessarily people with enormous financial margins. They had needs of their own. Yet Paul wanted them to understand that generosity doesn't begin when you finally have more than enough. Generosity begins when you trust that God is more than enough.
Paul uses the picture of a farmer: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
Every farmer understands something that initially seems counterintuitive. To produce a harvest, you have to release the seed. Seed sitting safely in the barn doesn't produce anything. The seed has to leave your hand.
Paul then says our giving should come from the heart, “not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Christian generosity isn't about being pressured, manipulated, or guilted into giving. God wants generosity to grow from hearts that trust Him.
Why can we live this way? Paul answers: “God is able.” Before Paul talks about our ability to give, he talks about God's ability to provide. Christian generosity doesn't begin with, “Look how much I have.” It begins with, “Look who God is.”
Paul says God provides abundantly so that, having what we need, we can “abound in every good work.” This isn't a promise of personal prosperity. God's provision has a purpose greater than increasing our lifestyle.
God provides for us so He can also provide through us.
Paul then describes God as the One who supplies both “seed to the sower and bread for food.” That's a powerful framework for generosity. Some of God's provision is bread. It meets our needs and is ours to enjoy with gratitude. But some of God's provision may be seed, an opportunity to bless someone else. Instead of automatically asking, “What can I do with more?” we can begin asking, “God, what do You want to do through what You've given me?”
This week, open your hand. Give something you could have kept for yourself. It might be money, time, possessions, attention, or hospitality. When we trust the Provider, we don't have to hold tightly to His provision.
Do I open my hand, or do I close it?
An open hand sees what it has and asks, “How could God use what He has given me to help?” A closed hand sees the same need and immediately begins calculating what generosity might cost. What if I need this later? What if there isn't enough? What if I give this away and wish I had kept it?
Most of us want to think of ourselves as generous people. But generosity isn't really revealed by what we say we would do if we had more. Generosity is revealed by what we do with what is already in our hands.
That's what makes the image of an open or closed hand so powerful. A closed hand can hold onto what it has, but it also can't receive or release anything. An open hand is willing to trust that what God has placed there doesn't have to stop there.
So maybe the question isn't simply, “Am I generous?” A better question might be: When God puts a need in front of me and an opportunity to be generous in my hands, what is my first instinct: open or closed?
In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul challenges Christians to open their hands to meet the needs of other believers. These weren't necessarily people with enormous financial margins. They had needs of their own. Yet Paul wanted them to understand that generosity doesn't begin when you finally have more than enough. Generosity begins when you trust that God is more than enough.
Paul uses the picture of a farmer: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
Every farmer understands something that initially seems counterintuitive. To produce a harvest, you have to release the seed. Seed sitting safely in the barn doesn't produce anything. The seed has to leave your hand.
Paul then says our giving should come from the heart, “not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Christian generosity isn't about being pressured, manipulated, or guilted into giving. God wants generosity to grow from hearts that trust Him.
Why can we live this way? Paul answers: “God is able.” Before Paul talks about our ability to give, he talks about God's ability to provide. Christian generosity doesn't begin with, “Look how much I have.” It begins with, “Look who God is.”
Paul says God provides abundantly so that, having what we need, we can “abound in every good work.” This isn't a promise of personal prosperity. God's provision has a purpose greater than increasing our lifestyle.
God provides for us so He can also provide through us.
Paul then describes God as the One who supplies both “seed to the sower and bread for food.” That's a powerful framework for generosity. Some of God's provision is bread. It meets our needs and is ours to enjoy with gratitude. But some of God's provision may be seed, an opportunity to bless someone else. Instead of automatically asking, “What can I do with more?” we can begin asking, “God, what do You want to do through what You've given me?”
This week, open your hand. Give something you could have kept for yourself. It might be money, time, possessions, attention, or hospitality. When we trust the Provider, we don't have to hold tightly to His provision.
Posted in More Than Enough