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Welcome to day two of our look through 2nd Corinthians chapter 8. Yesterday we
began to look at what this chapter has to teach us about how generosity can
become one of the qualities of our life that marks you, that marks your life. We
talked yesterday about giving regardless of the circumstances.

You don't wait for the right circumstances to give. You just begin giving now.
We talked about giving beyond your abilities.

You don't compare your abilities to someone else or give just as much as you
think you might be able to. You give even beyond that. And that's what creates
generosity in our lives.

Paul continues to talk about this at the end of verse 3 and end of verse 5 as he
says this entirely on their own. They urgently pleaded with us for the privilege
of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected,
but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's
will.

There's a couple of other principles of generosity in these verses. First of
all, he says, and it's really the third principle of what we're looking at
during this week, is you give as a privilege. Entirely on their own, they
urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the
saints.

It's a privilege. That's how you give beyond your ability, by the way. You see
it as a privilege.

Anytime someone does something that's beyond their ability, whether it's in a
sporting event or it's in an artistic endeavor or it's in school or it's in
business or it's in a relationship, it's because you feel privileged to do it.
That's what creates that kind of motivation in life. So as we said yesterday,
for them it wasn't a requirement, it wasn't a tradition.

They saw the opportunity as a privilege. And because they saw it as a privilege,
look at the result. Just walk through these phrases entirely on their own.

Because it was a privilege, giving became personal rather than institutional. It
wasn't something that some institution needed, it was something that was in the
depth of their heart. They wanted to do this.

Because of what Jesus had done for them, because of the needs that were around
them, because they wanted to honor the body of Christ, they wanted to do this.
So it began with them. It was not motivated outside of them, it was motivated
from within them.

That's when you give as a privilege. Entirely on their own, they pleaded. Giving
for them became a matter of desire rather than demand.

Some people give only when the demand becomes high enough. And that demand might
come from a person who is giving them a very clear message of this is how you
need to give. More often that demand comes from a circumstance, "Oh, we really
need to give now.

The ministry is really in trouble. " Or, "If we don't give now, things are going
to get sunk. " And so then you think, "Okay, I'm going to give.

" But they pleaded to give not based on some demand from outside, but the desire
they had within. When you start to give in that kind of way, it infects the joy,
it affects the joy of your life. They urgently pleaded.

When you start to give in this kind of way, when giving becomes a privilege, the
opportunity becomes now rather than later. Many of us miss out on the joy of
giving. We miss out on the joy of generosity because it's always later.

We want to do it. But because we can't do what we want now, we wait till later.
Because we don't have what we want now, enough and more than enough, we wait
till later.

My question is, what can you give now? How can you start now, urgently,
urgently? And you may think, "Well, the need is not urgent.

I don't see an urgent need around me for giving. " The need within you is
urgent. We urgently need to give because if I'm not a giving person, if I'm not
a generous person, then I'm not a joyful person.

Then I'm not the kind of person that can live out the kind of joy that God wants
in my life. He's given to me. I give back to others.

That creates joy. You give as a privilege. And then Paul says this.

I think it's the most important thing he says about giving in the entire
chapter. Fourth principle is, first, you give yourself to the Lord. That's where
it has to start.

First, you give yourself to the Lord. First they gave themselves to the Lord and
then to us in keeping with God's will. Giving has to be done in the right order.

You give yourself to the Lord and then you give yourself to people. And then out
of that, you give your possessions to meet needs. You love the Lord with all
your heart, mind, soul, and strength, Jesus taught.

That's the first commandment. You love your neighbor as yourself. You give
yourself to people, your love to people.

That's the second commandment. And then out of that, you give to meet needs.
What happens if giving gets out of order?

What happens if you give your possessions to meet needs, maybe because you think
you have enough, maybe because your parents told you you had to, or you think
somebody's looking over your shoulder, or you think God's going to get you if
you don't give? What happens if you give your possessions to meet needs without
starting with this love for the Lord? If you get giving out of order, pride
results instead of joy, anger results instead of joy, jealousy results instead
of joy.

You should have joy, peace, and fulfillment that grow out of your giving. But
there are many people, too many people, who when they give, it's a matter of
pride for them because they didn't give themselves to the Lord first. So they
just think about how they're giving more than others, or how their giving is
going to get them closer to God.

Now, first you realize you're close to God. There's nothing you can give that's
going to get you any closer to God. He's already given it all for you.

Our giving is just a response to what He's already done. It can result in pride
if you get it out of order. It can result in anger.

Why is God asking me to do this? I could use this for something better. It's
being wasted.

I have to do it because of whatever, some past thought, some past habit that's
been built into your life. Maybe it's your way deep down in your life. Maybe
it's your husband.

Maybe it's your wife that you feel like, "I can't tell them we can't give
anymore. " But there's something in you that's angry about it because you could
see a better use for that money. First, you give yourself to the Lord, and then
you won't have the anger.

Or it can result in jealousy. You look at other people and what they have and
what they've gotten, and you think, "Well, I gave to the Lord, and if I gave to
Him, He should have given me what they got. I don't think they give to the Lord
what I give to the Lord.

" What you want to be careful of, you never use a gift of money to avoid a gift
of yourself. If you do, then you're going to result in pride and anger and
jealousy. Never use a gift of money to avoid a gift of self.

That's true between parents and children, by the way. You don't want to give
your kids money to avoid giving them your time, yourself, your love. And many of
us, many, many people have gone down that path and seen the mistake of that.

It's also true between you and God. How do you do this? How do you make sure
that you first give yourself to the Lord?

It's interesting. God's plan for our finances is written on every one of the
bills that you have in your wallet if you have American dollars in your wallet.
The words are, "In God we trust," those four words.

It's interesting that those words are on our money, and yet so often they're not
applied to our money. In God we trust. I can first give myself to the Lord, and
then I realize I'm trusting in Him and not my money.

God is the source, not your money. God is the source, not your job. I know He
uses your money, then you use that money to buy things that feed your family.

I know He uses your job, and through that job you get money to buy things that
feed your family. But in the end, God's the one who supplies us with the
intelligence, with the strength, with the opportunity to get that job. And in
the end, God's the one who grew the things that we're buying with the money.

God is the source. In God we trust. First you give yourself to the Lord.

All of this is out of trust in you, and then out of that trust you give yourself
to others. If you're trusting in the Lord, you're going to give yourself to
others. You're going to love others.

It's inevitable. If you love God, you're going to love others, and if you love
others, you're going to give to others. You can't help but do it, but it all
starts with first you give yourself to the Lord.

So let's start there. Let's start with what's first right now. Would you pray
with me?

Jesus, we want to follow exactly what you told us to do here. So we want to
start by giving ourselves to you, beyond what we should give and how we should
give and thinking about who else is giving, all the things we could think about.
We start with you.

Lord, you've given so much to us. And so we give ourselves, our lives, all of
ourselves, our lives back to you. We may give a portion of it to others, but
it's all yours in the end, whether it's being used to feed my family or it's
being given to feed someone in a faraway nation.

It's all yours. And so, Lord, we recognize that in this moment. It's all yours.

You've given it to us. You've loaned it to us for this brief amount of time
we're on this planet Earth. Lord, help us to handle it wisely.

And in order to do that, we begin by giving ourselves, our hearts, our lives to
you in a fresh new way right now. Help us to live that out today, we pray. In
your name, Jesus, amen.

Tomorrow, we're going to talk about how to become excellent in generosity.