Giving. We are called to give our heart, body, and mind to God. We are also called to give unselfishly of ourselves to others. We should set apart our most prized possessions as being the Lord's. A friend of mine from Tennessee, John Notgrass, once said that we should lay on the altar that which is most dear to us by remembering that it belongs to God and being willing to give it to Him completely. One of the first things that should be given to Him is our time. All our time should be used for His glory, but additional time should be set aside each day just for spending time alone with God. These verses in Corinthians talk about some of the promises in giving. Our natural inclination, at mine was, was to infer that this passage was simply referring to money. Though there is a strong implication that money was the gift given by the Corinthians, there is nothing in these verses that limits their scope to just giving money. In fact, verse 8 talks about how God will provide us with sufficiency in everything so we will have an abundance for every good deed. Look at the example of how the Corinthians gave in 2 Cor. 8:3b and 5, "They gave of their own accord, ... and this, not as we expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God." When Christ came, "He scattered abroad, He gave to the poor, His righteousness endures forever." (2 Cor. 9:9) Christ did not scatter money abroad. He scattered His love, His grace, bodily healing, and His gift of love on the cross that brought true healing of the soul for those who accept it. It is God who provides us the means to give. It is our job to first give of ourselves to God and next give of ourselves to others with our money, our time, our talents, and our love.
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