Be thankful and generous

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Owen Lynch:

What did I like about today’s passage?

I like the encouragement that Paul gives to the Corinthians to be generous. Paul is organising a huge financial gift for the church in Jerusalem from the Gentile churches that he has planted and clearly, the Galatians, Ephesians and Philippians have been really generous. But in the midst of Paul’s stormy relationship with the Corinthians, they have clearly held back from being as generous as the other churches. Paul is direct in challenging them to be generous, but he appeals to the heart of the issue, wanting them to give freely rather than grudgingly.

There have been many times when other people have been generous with their time, energy and money towards me and I have always really enjoyed the experience! To receive generosity is such an uplifting experience, I do wonder why I don’t go out of my way to be more generous more often! And whilst it’s a blessing to be the recipient, but it’s also a blessing to me when I give generously to others.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

Undoubtedly, Paul appeals to the example of Jesus (8:9) to encourage the Corinthians in generosity and of course we can see that if God is the source of all life, then everything we are and have, we have received from God.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

I am going to practice the habit of thankfulness for the next 24 hours - for the less obvious things of life as well as the more obvious things that bring me joy and happiness. Like my health, my ability to work, my sight, my hearing, my toothbrush!!

I am going to remind myself to be thankful and generous at the beginning of every day by noting “be thankful and generous” in my diary.

Who am I going to share this with?

I will share this with my wife, so that we can work on it together as we share so much of our time, energy and money.