𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠 𝗨𝗣

• Tell us about some of the things you enjoy doing in your free time. Why do you like doing these things so much?

• Recall a time when a friend helped you get through a particularly difficult situation. How did it make you feel?

• What was the greatest expression of gratitude someone has shown to you? Share why you consider this a memorable experience.

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴: 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘱 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘱 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝟮 𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝟵:𝟲–𝟳

(Read also 𝟮 𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝟵:𝟭–𝟱, 𝟴–𝟭𝟱.)

To help the church in Jerusalem, which was in desperate need after being plagued by famine and persecution, Paul appealed to the Corinthians to set apart a benevolence offering. He urged them to prepare it in advance and set it aside so they would have generous hearts when it was time to give. But what does it mean to have a generous heart, and why is it important? Today, we will look at how God wants us to give and what it means for us to wholeheartedly set apart our finances for generosity.

𝟭. 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆, 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱.

𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴: 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘱 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘱 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝟮 𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝟵:𝟱–𝟳

God is a generous God. His heart overflows with abundance and a desire to bless His people. His grace that abounds in us empowers us to bless others generously, cheerfully, and genuinely—not out of obligation or compulsion. Even if there is no opportunity yet, we can already plan ahead and be intentional in our giving. Just like the Corinthians who were urged to prepare their offering ahead of time for those suffering in Jerusalem, we can also ready our hearts and make a habit of setting aside a portion of our resources for others. What does Proverbs 11:24 say about generosity? How have you experienced God’s generosity?

𝟮. 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗼𝗱.

𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘥. 𝟮 𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝟵:𝟭𝟬–𝟭𝟭

(Read also 𝟮 𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝟵:𝟭𝟮–𝟭𝟱.)

While we can never out-give God, when we use our resources to help others, it doesn’t just meet their needs. It opens the door for them to acknowledge God and see His hands in their lives through the people who extend generosity to them. It draws them to God and spurs them to thank, honor, and glorify Him. This is the bountiful harvest of righteousness of those who sow: the harvest of people. God values people putting their faith in Him so much. He gives more seed to those who sow to help others. How has God used you to bless others this year? What does Psalm 112:9 say about the man who sows bountifully?

God desires to bless us and use us for His kingdom. He provides seeds for us to sow and reap abundantly. Giving becomes a joy because of His grace that allows us to be channels of blessing to more people. It is never about us or our works. It is all about God and His grace that overflows in us.

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

• What should be our attitude toward giving? Why is it important to set apart some of our finances to generously give to others?

• How can you live a life of generosity? What are some practical ways you can do to bless those around you?

• Is there someone you can help in your community? Pray for opportunities to help you serve and engage with them.

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥

• Praise God for His overflowing love and grace. Thank Him for allowing you to be an instrument of His generosity.

• Seek God and ask him to prepare your heart so you can always give willingly, cheerfully, and generously when there’s a need.

• Pray that you will always look to God and acknowledge His hand in everything that you do. Thank Him for using you to be a channel of His blessing and grace.