Attitude!

Attitude!

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 2 Corinthians 9:6 KJV

One thing is made clear: the church will always have needs that must be met. The church is made up of human beings, both saved and unsaved, rich and struggling, old and inactive, as well as young and active, and those who are deeply rooted in the teachings of the Word and those who are still struggling with the elementary teachings of the Word. The church has all these people, and its ministry must be to all these people if it has them. Of course, it means that there must be both spiritual as well as emotional and financial resources available to the church. If we all left the needs to the 'church', who is the church? Is it the building we occupy, or the people God has raised up to impact lives? It has nothing to do with the physical space being occupied, but by the lives that have been brought under one umbrella. How am I interacting with the lives that have been brought into my path? 

Giving here is an outflow of my inner and spiritual understanding. Too many times we speak about giving as being good, but we do not emphasize the importance of getting the motives right. Would I give simply because I am asked to, or because I understand the blessing and mystery behind giving with the right heart? It is easy to define a man by the value of what he gives, but as we have seen, both the value and the heart with which a thing is given are equally important. God gave his only begotten son, the widow gave two small copper coins and we know, by virtue of God's own view, that these gifts had very great value before God. I must not focus on impressing someone with expensive gifts; rather, I must focus on my inner man, and how it views possessions. If I get that right, my life will be right. 

Paul lays it out quite nicely: the heart with which you sow is the determinant of the value you will reap. You see, at the heart of sowing sparingly is a heart that wants to hoard. It does not like to share. It sees only its own need, and no other person's. Once I am all about what I can get, it will be hard for me to see what I can give. But if I am free from the bondage to possessions, I can give up anything if a life will be impacted. That life is aware that a man's life does not consist of the abundance of the things he possesses. Networth is not defined by physical currency but by spiritual investment in other people. If I get that right, I cannot but impact lives physically too. All I have that is valuable is seed; I must make sure to sow it right, so my life can be a blessing both on earth and into eternity. God gave his best so I can be his best. I must give my best so I can show off God's best. God's time of favour is here.