Monday 14 April 2008

The first gave themselves to the Lord

And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God. – 2 Corinthians 8v5

What makes a giver? Yesterday we saw the Macedonians commended for their giving, which they did in the middle of affliction. How does one get the heart of a giver? How do we get to the point where we give beyond what we are able to give?

The key is in verse 5 – they first gave themselves to the Lord. Once we have truly given ourselves to Him the rest will come. Romans 12v1-2 implores us to offer up our bodies as living sacrifices to Him. The problem we face in giving, be it our time, our talents, or our tithes, is that far too often we try to do that without first giving ourselves to the Lord.

If we have a hard time giving, maybe we need to examine our hearts and see if we have given ourselves to Him first.

1 comment:

Candi said...

Good reminder!! We do have to give ourselves to Him FIRST or we can find ourselves embroiled in what other people expect or imply rather than what He truly wants. He may have a totally different plan for us than what is "normal" or "expected." And we can only know what that is as we give ourselves TO HIM.