fbpx
×

Log into your account

We have changed software providers for our subscription database. Old login credentials will no longer work. Please click the "Register" link below to create a new account. If you do not know your new account number you can contact [email protected]
Bible Studies for Life Less on for August 21: Give Money Generously
Emily Anthony, member, Imago Dei Church, Raleigh
August 09, 2016
2 MIN READ TIME

Bible Studies for Life Less on for August 21: Give Money Generously

Bible Studies for Life Less on for August 21: Give Money Generously
Emily Anthony, member, Imago Dei Church, Raleigh
August 09, 2016

Focal passage: Proverbs 11:23-29

Every year millions of Americans fill shoeboxes for Christmas. Instead of footwear, we cram our boxes with toys and other goodies and deliver them to organizations that will share them with children around the world. We celebrate the joy of giving and pray those who deliver our boxes will have an opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is a wonderful way to use our resources to help make Christ known around the globe!

But, are we ever tempted to limit our investment in the lives of others to one of these tiny cardboard boxes? When we place our gifts in the donation bin, do we consider ourselves to have fulfilled our obligation to financially invest in those around us?

The passage we’ll be studying this week in Proverbs 11 calls us to be generous with all our belongings – not just during a holiday season and not just in foreign countries.

We are to be known and identified as generous people. What’s more, Solomon explains that “a generous person will be enriched” (Proverbs 11:25). Our lives will be sweeter when they are characterized by giving.

Sometimes we are tempted to hoard our money, making sure we have enough to pay our bills, buy that latte or take our next vacation. The truth is, though, we will never find security in money. Solomon writes, “anyone trusting in his riches will fail, but the righteous will flourish like foliage” (Proverbs 11:28).

Whatever the balance in our bank account, it belongs to God. He has entrusted these funds into our care that we might use them to make His name great, giving so that the gospel might go forth.

I love packing shoeboxes for Christmas. It brings me joy, and if you haven’t done it, I suggest you start. But if our investment in the lives of others can fit in the place where sandals used to be stored, we are missing out. Forget shoeboxes, I want my whole closet, my whole life, to be characterized by generosity, giving to others what God has given to me.