Give Yourself to God First

What does it take to be a generous person? Do you have to be rich, have more money than you need, and have lots of resources and time? Do you ever think to yourself, “Someday if I get some extra money, I’ll be generous, but right now, I have to concentrate on taking care of myself?”

The people in the churches of Macedonia (the northern part of Greece and southeastern Europe) were made up of people who believed what the Apostle Paul taught them about Jesus of Nazareth: He is the Messiah that God has sent, our best look at who God is. Jesus died and came back from death to show God’s power over sin: all the destructive ways human beings live, and over death itself. These believers were asked by Paul to give an offering to help people in Jerusalem, because food was scarce for them in those days.

Here is how the Macedonian churches responded according to Paul’s second letter to the Church at Corinth. “While they were being tested by many problems, their extra amount of happiness and their extreme poverty resulted in a surplus of rich generosity. I assure you that they gave what they could afford and even more than they could afford, and they did it voluntarily. They urgently begged us for the privilege of sharing in this service for the saints. They even exceeded our expectations, because they gave themselves to the Lord first and to us, consistent with God’s will.” (8:2-5)

Clearly, what made those believers generous was not having lots of money. What made them generous was that they “gave themselves to the Lord first.” When we give ourselves to God first, we begin to understand that all we have comes from God and belongs to God. We are just the managers of what God entrusts to us. God intends for us to live our lives with “an extra amount of happiness” and share with others what we have, whether it is little or much.

In order to do what God is giving us to do here at New Hope, we need to give generously to our church. What will make us generous is our joy in seeing what God is doing and then giving ourselves to God.