The Joy of Generosity: Exploring the Gift of Giving

Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast,

where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.

In this podcast series, we're going to be looking into biblical

words that have great significance to our faith.

The name of this series is called the Word of the Week, where

once a week we will dive deeper into these words that we are

familiar with in Scripture.

So come along with me.

Let's study the Word of the week.

Pastor Josh here.

The word of the week is gifts.

Again, we're looking at the spiritual gifts listed in Romans

Romans 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12.

We've been going through these for several weeks now, and I believe

that this is a wonderful study for all believers to look into to

see where God has supernaturally gifted us to serve

Him.

And the Bible tells us in the book of First Peter, chapter four,

that these are given to us with the manifold, the various grace

of God.

And we're thankful for how God has gifted us with these wonderful

ways that we can serve him for the purpose of service, for the purpose

of proclaiming his name, for the purpose of giving him the glory.

So last week we looked at the gift of exhortation.

And just by way of review, that gift of exhortation is the gift

of encouraging, challenging others, coming alongside of them

and helping them apply or live out the truths that are taught and

preached within the church from Scripture.

So this week we are looking at our next gift, and that is the gift

of giving.

There In Romans chapter 12, we see that list.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

And I think that so many times we think about the gift of giving

when it comes to finances, and that certainly does apply to that

realm when it comes to giving, giving gifts to the Lord through

the way of finances.

But it means so much more than that.

You look at Romans chapter 12, it says in verse number eight, he

Romans 12 · chapter mention

that giveth, let him do it with simplicity.

That that means to.

To give in a way that is focused.

The one who is going to give needs to give with broadness or generosity.

So, so it's not just giving, but giving with the spirit of generosity.

And there's a whole passage of Scripture in Second Corinthians,

2 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8, 9, about giving and what it means to be a grace giver.

And the Bible does say in Second Corinthians, chapter nine,

believe it is verse seven, it says that God loves a cheerful giver.

So with our giving, with our gift of giving, comes joy, comes

generosity.

And so I think that that's important to notice because someone

that has been given the gift of giving from the Lord enjoys doing

it.

All of us are called to give, whether we really enjoy it or not.

But the goal for us, like all the spiritual gifts, is to grow in

these capacities to appreciate what God has given us.

And the responsibility then becomes a privilege.

And so the gift of giving is the Spirit given grace, desire and

motivation to serve God in the body by giving material financial

needs to people around, having wisdom in distributing those needs,

maybe godly wisdom and advice on how to distribute those needs

to those around them.

In many cases, the resources, well, I guess in all cases, the resources

for this gift are given to that person who's been gifted with

the gift of giving.

Right?

If God expects us to give, he's going to give us the necessary

resources to do that giving.

And so it's a serving gift focused on meeting financial or material

needs within the body.

Doesn't always have to deal with financial needs, but in many

cases it does.

But it could be a material need that somebody has in their life.

And so the person who's motivated by the gift of giving,

spirit led, is someone who is encouraged, encourages others to

give as well, encourages others to manage and give effectively.

And you can see some folks in scripture that have this gift.

One that comes to mind to me is Abraham.

For the sake of time, we won't dive into that.

But you can do character studies on individuals in scripture

and definitely see examples of these gifts lived out specifically

with Abraham.

Just his desire to help in the financial means to do so.

And so there's, there's a strong desire for an individual that

has this gift to identify resources and needs that maybe even

brings in some level of creativity in this gives, gives them

a strong desire to save or invest wisely to.

So we can lump in the idea of stewardship with this.

God gives the gift of stewardship as he gives the gift

of, of giving.

So someone who is guided by the Spirit in this gift will be someone

who uses giving as a tool for the gospel, gospel focused giving,

giving towards works that are going to promote the gospel.

And so as I mentioned before, all of these spiritual gifts are

areas that all believers need to grow in.

And so you, you might say that you are not naturally or supernaturally

gifted in the area of giving.

And that might be the case.

But all of us are called to grow in these areas.

And so when we look at the idea of mercy, when we look at the

idea of exhortation, just because we are not gifted in that,

when it comes to being spirit filled, it does, it doesn't mean

that we just neglect that.

So, oh well, I'm not an Exhorter.

So I can't exhort?

No, you should still exhort.

And that comes with the area of giving, right?

And so just because we might not necessarily be gifted in the

area of giving, we should grow in that understanding of what it

means to be someone who is biblically giving.

And coming from a spirit of giving.

God's given us so much, right?

We know that in the book of James, chapter one, verse 17, it

speaks to the idea of every good gift comes down from God.

And so as God gifts us, so we should then see that character trait

in him.

He's the great gift giver.

And we model that character to those around us.

And so there, there, there is a difference between wants and needs.

And someone that has been given the gift of giving is going

to have that discernment to know the difference between a want

and a needle.

There's going to be an encouragement to others by way of

example and giving.

They want to make sure that the needs are met.

But you know, obviously that other people can catch that same

spirit as well.

Someone who has the gift of giving is going to notice and see

the needs in other people.

So there takes a sense of humility in this.

And the other side of things with this is that as we know that

a person can be supernaturally gifted with a gift, but then be working

in the flesh.

And so there is a temptation with all of these gifts is to use

an element of pride and selfishness in this.

And so, look, I've been given so much now I'm going to give somebody

something, but it's going to be tied to maybe a stipulation or

maybe I'm going to use my financial blessing to, yes, bless

others, but use it for my good, right?

I'm going to bless those that are going to bless me.

And that's not tied to this, right?

No ulterior motives.

So like, if I'm going to give with that agape, right?

If I'm going to give with that sacrificial love, it's going to be

just that, like, I'm not expecting anything in return.

So just as we're called to love with nothing in return, so we

are to give with really nothing in return.

But, but a carnal or fleshly giver can become so focused on the

actual material that they're giving that they might forget about

the spiritual connection to this.

There could be some manipulation, there could be a focus

on the financial over the spiritual.

There can be distractions to leave some kind of legacy.

There could be pride tied to projects instead of people.

Right.

So we're focused on projects, and we miss out on the people that

are there in front of us.

And there could be some unpredictability with that.

Right.

Just kind of all over the place in my giving.

And so.

And I would even say with a lot of these gifts, the gift of giving

could also be used as a justification to not do anything

else.

Right.

Well, I give here, so I don't need to do this over here.

And we know that would be a fleshly way to see these things.

And so the Bible speaks so much about the area of giving.

And again, it's not necessarily a gift given to everybody,

but it's an area of capacity that all of us should grow in.

And so we go back to second Corinthians, chapter eight.

Second Corinthians, chapter eight gives us the example of the

Macedonian church and what they did in their giving.

And it says that they gave not out of great abundance, but verse

2 of 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, how that in a great trial of affliction,

2 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto

the riches of their liberality, meaning they were having.

They were having a difficult time.

They were lacking.

It says verse 3.

For to their power I bear record, yea.

And beyond their power, they were willing of themselves.

And so the Bible speaks of this fact that they went above and

beyond.

They gave out of difficulty, they gave out of poverty, they gave

out of affliction, but they did it with joy.

And that goes back to that connection between God loves a cheerful

giver.

And so Paul was talking to the church there at Corinth, and he was

using the Macedonian church as an example of how they gave.

And they did it with love, they did it with joy.

They did it not necessarily knowing where the needs would be

filled, but they did it in faith.

And so there's an element of faith to giving, right?

I don't only give where it makes sense, but I give where God

leads.

I don't give because I can afford to give, but I give because

I.

I can't afford not to give.

Right?

And that's.

I know it's a double negative, but you know what I mean by that.

There's this idea that even though it might hurt me or I might

not be able to get all the things that I want, I'm still able

to extend this gift because God has placed this on my heart.

And you will see in other passages of Scripture that God doesn't

expect everyone to give the same amount.

No Doubt there are people that are going to have different abilities

to give.

And so we see that there's going to be some people that have

been gifted a lot financially, and they're going to have predominantly

more of an ability to give.

But I think it's proportional, right?

And there's an apportion.

There's a.

There's a proportional element to this.

And so if God gives someone immensely, right?

He's.

He's looking for us to give immensely.

But no doubt in my mind, God isn't expecting somebody to give

everything that they have, and they're not able to take care of

other necessary elements within their life.

And I think the Bible speaks to that with the story of the widow,

two mites, right?

I mean, the story sometimes is seen as the widow with two mites

is giving everything, and God wants us to give everything, which

is.

Is a.

Is a great show of sacrifice in the life of.

Of the widow.

But I do believe that that passage of scripture is speaking

to the religious leaders of the day that were abusing the widows

and lying to them and telling them that the more that they would

give, the more attention they.

That they would receive from God.

And so I think Second Corinthians, chapter eight and nine,

give us a great example of what it means to have that spirit

of grace as we give.

I think in Second Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 7, it says, Every

2 Corinthians 9:7

man, according as he purposes in his heart, meaning, this is something

between you and God.

This is something between how God is leading you and not how other

people are trying to twist your arm to give.

And so it's how you decide in your heart, not as it says here,

not grudgingly or reluctantly, nor out of necessity.

Meaning, like, I've got to give, man, I have got to give.

That's the wrong spirit.

That's the wrong Spirit.

Why?

Because it says God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to make all grace, verse 8, abound toward you

that ye always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound

to every good work, meaning God's going to give you what you

need, and he's sufficient.

And so don't be afraid of missing out if God calls you to give.

And so God's pressing in your heart to grow in that area of giving,

whether it be within the church or helping others around you.

I would encourage you to follow that in obedience and be generous

and be loving and do it with joy, as we see in Scripture.

So that is the gift of giving.

Next week we will come back with another gift.

We're going to come back with the gift of administration.

And sometimes not a gift that's always celebrated, but it's

needed.

I mean, we need administration, we need direction,

we need delegation.

And so we're going to look at that gift the next week when we come

back.

Well, thank you so much for following along in this series.

I hope that has been beneficial to you as we've been studying

these spiritual gifts listed in Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

As we get done with this, we will definitely move on to a new

series of words.

But I think that this has been at least helpful for me to understand

how God gifts differently in different ways, but for the same

purpose of growing and sharing the message of Jesus Christ to a

world that needs his truth.

And so thank you again for, for following along.

We look forward to seeing you next week or hearing from you at

some point and make sure that you are sharing this if you can.

Well, God bless you.

You have a wonderful week.

We will talk.

Talk to you soon.

Hey, I really appreciate that you listen to the Word of the Week

podcast.

If you have any questions about the podcast or about our church,

Middletown Baptist Church, you can find more information about us

on Facebook or YouTube or you can find the podcast on NBCPodcast.org

you can contact me directly at Josh Massaro at middletownbaptistchurch.org

stay tuned for future Word of the Week episodes where we dive deeper

into words that impact our life according to scripture.

Thank you so much.

God bless.

We'll talk to you soon.