They gave themselves

And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God. – 2 Corinthians 8.5

What is the key to giving? What do we need to get right so that giving, in fact so that everything else falls into place?

Something must come first. It is the same thing Paul wrote in Romans 12.1-2 – ‘I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice.’

Before we can give anything, before we can do anything, it is vital that place our lives on God’s altar and in His hands. When we learn to give oursleves to the Lord everything else is possible. When we learn to trust Him enough to give Him our all He is then able to use us.

The problem is that everything about us rebels against giving ourselves without reservation to anyone. It is hard to really let go and submit ourselves to someone’s control.

As we see a couple of verse later Jesus gave His all for us. Since that is the case how can we fail to give ourselves to Him?