Written by Bryant Wright, Founder, RFTH

“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”   
2 Corinthians 9:8

In continuing our study on the Biblical principles of living and giving, we come to Part Four: God blesses us to be a blessing to others.

The prosperity-theology folks jump all over these verses (2 Corinthians 9:8-11). In taking them out of context, they develop a false interpretation of the Gospel called the “gospel of greed.” In other words, these verses have been twisted to teach a “give to get” mentality. It’s a self-focused, greed-oriented mindset utterly contrary to Jesus’ teaching.

The true meaning behind these verses is all about putting ourselves in God’s shoes. If you entrust financial resources to someone who’s a good money manager and is learning to be generous in the way God teaches us to be, it makes sense that more financial resources would be entrusted to that individual. Then, we can be a blessing to others through generous giving. That’s the meaning behind these often misunderstood verses.

It’s not giving to God in order to get for ourselves. It’s about giving to God and knowing that He will bless us to be a blessing to others.

Jesus says in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, your heart will be also.” In other words, if you want to know what’s important to a person, look at his or her bank statement. Our priorities are revealed by what takes up most of our time and financial resources.

Jesus knew that the biggest barrier to completely trusting God is usually our relationship with money. In most of our lives, even in the church, we too often place more trust in our money than we do in God.

One way to combat this is through generosity.

So, how will you live and give generously this week? Who will be blessed by your generosity?

DIG DEEPER
Read “How Can I Become a More Cheerful Giver?” at GotQuestions.org