Playbook For Christian Living - Living Generously

Play Number Five: "Live Generously"

11.22.15

Christmas is quickly approaching. Marketing and store web sites provide daily and hourly countdowns until the 25th of December. We are encouraged to give extravagant gifts (which of course means more profit for the stores), and these great gifts will show our love and appreciation for people who receive the presents. This form of generosity is a forced and contrived one. It is opposite of the description Paul gives in 2 Corinthians 9:7 -  "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." 

Giving is a part of the Christian life. Today we unpack five truths about living a life that is centered on biblical generosity. 

1. We are conduits, not collectors. 

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.”

2 Corinthians 9:8-9

God blesses us so that the blessing may flow through us to others. He does not give to us so that we simply collect the blessings. It is like the man who buried his coin in Luke 19 and failed to bring a return on the investments the kings had made. We are to use God's  blessings as a resource, not a reservoir. 

2. God is the supplier.

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

2 Corinthians 9:10

All good gifts come from God. We must seek him as the source of all our blessings. Pursuing other sources is what causes us to sin (i.e., seeking the truth of good an evil in the garden). 

3. Generosity leads to gratitude. 

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 

2 Corinthians 9:12 

When we pass along the blessings God has shared, it allows others to experience it as well and if will lead them to thanking God. Notice they will thank God, not us. Be mindful that we do not seek God's spot of thanks. 

4. Generosity leads to praise.

Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 

2 Corinthians 9:13

The natural reaction of blessings from God is praise. He is worthy of praise and we are responsible to deliver it. It is praise for the gift, and praise for the demonstration of the true belief in the gospel of Christ. It is praise for our testimony of a great God! 

5. We give because we were given grace. 

And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

2 Corinthians 9:14-15

We have moved from death to life, unclean to clean, unrighteous to righteous! This gift was just that, a gift (Romans 6:23) from God. Since we who had nothing have been given everything, we should reflect the awesome generosity of our Father God. 

Playbook For Christian Living - Living In His Love

Play Four: Living In His Love
11.15.15

There are a lot of theological discussion on various things that Jesus taught in his time on earth. His parables and stories sometimes leave us scratching our head wondering what he is exactly saying. But sometimes he is very clear. Take for example the last super he has with his disciples. He is the creator God in flesh, and he bends to his knee and washes their feet. He follows this act of service with this command:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:34-35

He has set the bar high already, and is about to go to the cross and truly give example of what it means to love someone. This simple command is easy to conceive yet difficult too often to execute. Today I want to explore six ideas of what this love should look like.

In 1 John chapter 4, we read a wonderful explanation of what Godly love and therefore Christian love should look like. John writes this:

"Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become a child of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. Here is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only Son into the world. He sent him so we could receive life through him. Here is what love is. It is not that we loved God. It is that he loved us and sent his Son to give his life to pay for our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we should also love one another. No one has ever seen God. But if we love one another, God lives in us. His love is made complete in us." (verses 7-12)

1. Love is spiritual.

In verse 7 we read that love comes from God. We are made in the image of God (Genesis 1) and we reflect his characteristics. If we are to learn to love one another as Jesus commended, then we must learn to love from the source. It is a pure and perfect love. It is genuine, and never ending.

2. Love is revealing.

Verse 8 tells us that we reveal our hearts by either loving or not loving. If we wish the world to see us as Christians, then there is no greater indicator than loving one another. Our love or lack thereof will tell the world whether we are a true believer.

3. Love is an action.

"This is how God showed his love..." verse 9 begins. Think about that statement. God showed his love to us. For many religions and gods of this world, it it the pleasure of their gods to only receive love, but the God of the Bible, the one true God, is a loving God. He took action to show his love in the form of his Son whom he sent to us to make a way for us to join him where he is. God took action and showed us his love!

4. Love is unconditional.

He took that action and showed his love through his son long before we loved Him. He accepted us where we were, and loved us. Too often this point has been used by non-believers as proof that we are not real Christians; citing the fact that Jesus was known to accept sinners where they were. True. But he loved them enough to not leave them in their sin and misery. He loved them enough to challenge them and change them. Real love is unconditional, but it also leads people to transformation.

5. Love is relational.

John reminds us in verse 11 that since God loved us, we should love each other. That means the guy or gal in your small group that is always late, always unprepared, and always asks the rabbit trail questions. It means we love our spouses, our kids, our friends, neighbors, waitresses, and more with the same unconditional spiritual love demonstrated by God. It also means that we must look in the mirror and love the person we see.

6. Love is evidence of God.

"Nobody has seen God!" the non-believer will state with emphases to prove there is no God. But in 1 John 4:12 we see this fact admitted and embraced. No one has seen God, but if we learn to live a life which demonstrates His love as his Son has commanded, then we are giving evidence that He exists. Our love for one another is proof that there is a loving God.