Better to Give
Message Summary: Generosity: Being generous is a matter of the heart and should be a core value that you’re convicted about. We must decide that generosity is part of our DNA and to be a generous person. It’s not about comfort, but conviction. Conviction is the difference between giving cheerfully versus living with a poverty spirit and giving from a place of obligation. If you’re not living from a place of conviction, do a deep dive into why you’re living with a poverty mindset. If generosity is a core value, it changes the game. Josiah wants us to be a generous church in the Kingdom of God, not just giving to Cross Timbers but anywhere that is in need. Don’t give reluctantly in response to pressure. Work on giving in your heart but no one should make you feel pressure.
Having nothing new happening can be a good thing. If you’re already consistent in giving, think of something else you can be consistent in. When we’re consistent in reading the Lord’s Word, he reveals new things to us. There’s power in consistency. To transform your mind, to be like Christ, etc. you must have discipline. To be consistent, you must create a goal. Goals are biblical. Where there are no goals, no vision; people perish.
The story of Joseph is the secret to being consistent, setting goals and working hard. He was one of 12 sons of Jacob, which became the 12 tribes of Israel. Joseph was Jacob’s favorite, and his brothers hated him for it. Joseph had prophetic dreams and he could interpret them. He told his brothers they would bow down to him so they threw him in a pit and then sold him into slavery to the Ishmaelites in Egypt. He ended up in Potiphar’s house. Jospeh was incredibly consistent in his hard work even as a slave. He ended up the head slave. Potiphar’s wife liked the way he looked, and Joseph rejected her many times. He was put in prison for two years when she lied about him. Even in prison, he was consistent in his prayer life. One day Pharaoh has a dream and calls upon Joseph to interpret his dream.
Joseph then revealed the secret to having discipline: I cannot but God.
Joseph wasn’t perfect, however, he understood that where he couldn’t, God could. Less of me, more of Him.
- Do you feel that generosity is something intrinsically in your DNA?
- What are some areas of your life you can be more consistent in?
- Does your family have core values? If not, consider creating them.
- Where do you feel you are falling short and how can you shift the weight on God instead?
2 Corinthians 9:7 – Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Hebrews 12:11 – No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Proverbs 12:1 – Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.
Proverbs 15:32 – Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding.
Proverbs 21:5 – The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.
Philippians 3:12-14 – Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
John 16:8 – When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment
Philippians 2:13 – For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose
Genesis 39:12-15 – She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
Genesis 41:14-16 – So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 – But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.