Setting Apart Our Finances for Godโs Purpose
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Tell us about some of the things you enjoy doing in your free time. Why do you like doing these things so much?
โข Recall a time when a friend helped you get through a particularly difficult situation. How did it make you feel?
โข What was the greatest expression of gratitude someone has shown to you? Share why you consider this a memorable experience.
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด: ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ. ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐ฎ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ต:๐ฒโ๐ณ
(Read also ๐ฎ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ต:๐ญโ๐ฑ, ๐ดโ๐ญ๐ฑ.)
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.
๐ญ. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐น๐, ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐๐น๐น๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐น๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ.
๐๐ฐ ๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ช๐ง๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐จ๐ช๐ง๐ต, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด: ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ. ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ.ย ๐ฎ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ต:๐ฑโ๐ณ
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 genuinelyโnot 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 Godโs generosity?
๐ฎ. ๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐๐น ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐น๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐ณ๐๐น ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ฒ๐ผ๐๐๐ป๐ฒ๐๐: ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ด๐น๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ฑ.
๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ.ย ๐ฎ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ต:๐ญ๐ฌโ๐ญ๐ญ
(Read also ๐ฎ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ต:๐ญ๐ฎโ๐ญ๐ฑ.)
While we can never out-give God, when we use our resources to help others, it doesnโt 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.
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข What should be our attitude toward giving? Why is it important to set apart some of our finances to generously give to others?
โข How can you live a life of generosity? What are some practical ways you can do to bless those around you?
โข Is there someone you can help in your community? Pray for opportunities to help you serve and engage with them.
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Praise God for His overflowing love and grace. Thank Him for allowing you to be an instrument of His generosity.
โข Seek God and ask him to prepare your heart so you can always give willingly, cheerfully, and generously when thereโs a need.
โข 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.