Gifted With Love (4)

Our Daily Bread

Date: February 3, 2024

Scriptures: Proverbs 11:24-25

Main Verse: Proverbs 11:24

Proverbs 11:24 NKJV

There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty.

Lesson is an Example to Follow.

Let’s Pray:Lord, we thank you for this medium (Phone Conference) where we can come together collectively worship you, praise you, and call on you for help. Now, Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

Title: Gifted with Love

On her wedding day, Gwendolyn Stulgis wore the wedding dress of her dreams. Then she gave it away—to a stranger. Stulgis believed a dress deserved more than sitting in a closet collecting dust. Other brides agreed. Now scores of women have bonded on her social media site to donate and receive wedding dresses. As one giver said, “I hope this dress gets passed from bride to bride to bride, and it just gets worn out and is in tatters at the end of its life because of all the celebrating that’s done in it.” The spirit of giving can feel like a celebration, indeed. As it is written, “One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed” (Proverbs 11:24–25). The apostle Paul taught this principle in the New Testament. As he said his goodbyes to the believers in Ephesus, he gave them a blessing (Acts 20:32) and reminded them of the importance of generosity. Paul pointed to his own work ethic as an example for them to follow. “In everything I did,” he said, “I showed you that by . . . hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ ” (v. 35). Being generous reflects God. “For God so loved the world that He gave . . .” (John 3:16). Let’s follow His glorious example as He guides us.

By: Patricia Raybon

Scripture: Proverbs 11:24-25

Proverbs 11:24–25 NKJV

There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.

Reflect Questions

What good gift have you given recently?

How did your gift help someone?

Background:

Proverbs 10–22 are a collection of individual wisdom sayings compiled by Solomon. In Proverbs 10–15, most of the proverbs appear in contrastive form, in which a wise choice is advised and then compared to the negative result of foolish behavior. It can be difficult to identify a specific thread in any given section of these proverbs, but in the second half of chapter 11, the theme of wealth and its appropriate use is clearly in view. In verse 15, we’re warned against using our wealth as collateral for a stranger and are reminded that caution in making commitments is wise. In verse 16, wealth is contrasted with honor, and wealth is seen as vastly inferior. Verse 18 warns against “deceptive wages” and instead extols “righteousness.” And in verse 24, a generous heart brings “even more” to the giver, while stinginess will lead to “poverty.” 

Here are a few texts from Proverbs about generosity:

Proverbs 3:9-10: Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

Proverbs 11: 24-26: Some give freely, yet grow all the richer; others withhold what is due, and only suffer want. A generous person will be enriched, and one who gives water will get water. The people curse those who hold back grain, but a blessing is on the head of those who sell it.

Proverbs 13:7: Some pretend to be rich, yet have nothing; others pretend to be poor, yet have great wealth.

Proverbs 14:20-21: The poor are disliked even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. Those who despise their neighbors are sinners, but happy are those who are kind to the poor.

Proverbs 19:17: Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and will be repaid in full.

Proverbs 22:9: Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.

Proverbs 25:21: If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink; for you will heap coals of fire on their heads, and the Lord will reward you.

Proverbs 28:27: Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but one who turns a blind eye will get many a curse.

And from Ecclesiastes 11:1: Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. (KJV)

Gentlemen if you would please turn your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 This one of the greatest chapters in the bible in regards to generosity.

New Living Translation Chapter 8

8 I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.

9 You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.

10 Here is my advice: It would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it. 11 Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have. 12 Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. 13 Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. 14 Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal. 15 As the Scriptures say,

“Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over,

and those who gathered only a little had enough.

Teaching

In preparing for this lesson I discovered that there are 3,194 billionaires worldwide. Some of them were born rich; others came into this life with nothing but managed to acquire a stunning fortune. And often, these new billionaires don’t mind giving away their money.

Like I stated early, in a surprising number of cases, the mega-rich have sprung from impoverished roots and not lifestyles of the rich and famous.

Kenny Troutt, the founder of Excel Communications, paid his way through college by selling life insurance. Net worth: $1.5 billion

Starbucks's Howard Schultz grew up in a housing complex for the poor. Net worth: $2.9 billion

Investor Ken Langone's parents worked as a plumber and cafeteria worker. To help pay for Langone's school at Bucknell University, he worked odd jobs and his parents mortgaged their home. Net worth: $2.8 billion

Hearing these rags-to-riches tales makes it a bit easier to accept the news that these blue-collar common folks are not white-collar billionaires. But is there anything that would cause us to say, “They deserve all that money”?

Only one thing could help for sure: Ridiculous wealth seems justified when matched by jaw-dropping charitable giving.

Few complain about Oprah’s $3 billion net worth. She was born to unmarried teenage parents — her mom a maid and her dad a coal miner. Growing up in rural Mississippi, her mother was so poor that her grandmother made dresses for Oprah from potato sacks. She was molested as a child, skipped two grades in elementary school, did part-time television newscasts in high school, and was a talk show megastar by age 32.

But the striking difference between Oprah and some of her billionaire compatriots is her unmatched reputation for generosity. Winfrey has donated millions to education in the United States to organizations including the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), The Ron Clarke Academy in Atlanta, and many others. In 2013, Winfrey was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

How many of us have gushed with chartable dreams when seeing the Power Ball jackpot total? How many have told God that if God made us rich, we would take care of the needs of countless others?

Paul asks the Corinthians to dig into their purses Let’s be clear. There are many ways we can give to the Lord’s work, and to those who are in need. We’re thinking about our spiritual gifts, our skills, our talents, our prayers and our time. But Paul is not asking the Corinthian church in this case to donate their spiritual gifts, their skills, their prayers or their time. Paul is talking money. Cold cash. Serious coin.

Gentlemen, If you don’t mind I would like to make five (5) quick points.

II. THE DESIGN—vv. 8–15

1. Showing—v. 8. Show your love by giving.

2. Saviour—v. 9. Christ, who was rich, left His home to enter this world, that we may be made rich.

3. Steady—vv. 10–11. Be steady in your giving. Give every week. Don’t give by impulse alone.

4. System—vv. 12–14. Give what you have. Don’t wait until you are rich. Share with others what you have.

5. Scriptural—v. 15. Quote from Exod. 16:18. Give to God and He will meet your needs.

1. Showing—v. 8. Show your love by giving. 8:8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.

“I’m not laying the law down on you,” Paul says to the Corinthians, “but here is an opportunity to prove the sincerity of your love for Jesus.”

a.Hey gentlemen, our giving must be based upon love for those who are lost and needy. Giving must be based upon love for the Lord Jesus who has commanded us to go into all the world to reach and help the people of the world.

b. Giving must be based upon the example of those who give sacrificially. In the case of the Corinthians, they had the dynamic example of the Macedonians. The Corinthians should have been stirred to follow the example of such sacrificial giving. In our case, we should be stirred to follow the dynamic example of all those who give willingly and sacrificially.

Love cannot be known unless it is demonstrated by deeds of compassion and giving. Love demands sacrificial giving. In fact, there is no love unless there is sacrificial giving.

“… Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Mt. 22:39).

“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (Jn. 13:35).

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you” (Jn. 15:12).

2. Saviour—v. 9. Christ, who was rich, left His home to enter this world, that we may be made rich.

Born in a borrowed cradle, Jesus preached from a borrowed boat, rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey, ate His Last Supper in a borrowed room, and was buried in a borrowed grave. He who made everything laid it all down and entered into total poverty that I might be rich.

“This is the real issue,” says Paul. “Not only did the believers in Macedonia give in their poverty, but to an infinitely greater degree, Jesus gave everything to set us free.”

To the person not in love with Jesus, giving is a difficult, painful,laborious, burdensome task. He who loves Jesus, on the other hand, welcomes the opportunity to demonstrate his love.

The point is this: since Christ willingly sacrificed so much to help us, we ought to sacrifice to help those in need. Just as Christ gave everything for us when we were in desperate need, so we are to give everything to meet the needs of those who are desperately lost in this world.

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Ph. 2:5–8).

3. Steady—vv. 10–11. Be steady in your giving. Give every week. Don’t give by impulse alone.And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.

Like a coach in the locker room at halftime, Paul called the Corinthians to finish what they had begun (8:11). They had distinguished themselves as winners thus far, but the game wasn’t over yet. The excitement of starting must be matched by the determination of completion. It is easy to make promises when making them enhances a person’s image. When the spotlight leaves and the cost of the vow seems to compound daily, enthusiasm wanes. It becomes easy to forfeit honor by forgetting what was promised. To whom did you recently say, “I’ll pray for you!” Have you? It sounded spiritually mature and caring, but did you mean it? Have you made a financial pledge to a Christian organization or your church that you have yet to fulfill, Gentlemen? God will empower you to finish your pledge.

“Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come” (1 Co. 16:2).

“Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Co. 9:7).

“Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee” (De. 16:17).

4. System—vv. 12–14. Give what you have. Don’t wait until you are rich. Share with others what you have.

Don’t worry about giving what you don’t have. Just do what you can. “I’m not trying to get you to go out on a limb and give more than you have,” Paul says. “But even as the Macedonia believers shared generously, so should you because you don’t know when the situation will change unexpectedly. You don’t know when you will need their help.” This is a principle not only of finances but of life Gentlemen. “Give and it shall be given unto you,” Jesus said (Luke 6:38). Whether regarding money or mercy, goods or grace—whatever you extend will come back your way.

College. Grad school. Unemployment. First baby. A recession. Saving for a house down payment. We can all point to times in our lives when we have enjoyed less than we have now. Paul is saying to Corinth and to us, “Remember your roots!” Remember your times of need so you will remember to meet the needs of others.

5. Scriptural—v. 15. Quote from Exod. 16:18. Give to God and He will meet your needs.

The Israelites were to gather just enough manna to last one day. Those who decided to “stock up” found their supply stinky and full of worms. So, too, the longer we walk with the Lord, the more we discover that those things that used to impress us quickly become wormy and stinky to us. Does this mean we’re not to have anything? No. Abraham, the father of faith, was a very wealthy man. But he was completely ready to sacrifice Isaac—his only possession that meant anything to him.

When God is your only passion, He can trust you with anything He wants to send your way. That is why Paul could say, “I’ve learned both to abound and to be abased” (see Philippians 4:12). It’s not wrong for us to have things—but it’s wrong for things to have us because God wants us to be free. It’s an issue of the heart gentlemen.

Gentlemen, In closing I have some good news The good news is that we are blessed when we give. Most people who give to relieve the plight and distress of others report that they feel very good about it. They feel a sense of spiritual wholeness and satisfaction. When Paul addressed the elders at Ephesus, he closed his message with a word about giving, and cited the words of Jesus himself: “In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35).