2 Corinthians 9:10-15

2 Corinthians 9:10-15

And the one who supplies seed to the one who sows and bread into nourishment will also supply and will multiply your seed and He will cause your harvest of righteousness to increase while being made rich in every way into all generosity, which accomplishes thanksgiving to God through us.  For the ministry of this service is not only while supplying that which is needed to the holy ones but also while existing in the abundance through much thanksgiving to God.  While glorifying God through the genuineness of this service upon the submission of your confession into the Gospel of Christ and the generosity of the fellowship into them and into everyone, while yearning for you all and in their prayers for you all because of that which is in a far superior grace of God upon you all.  Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul talks about God bringing increase into our life.  Again it is important to stop and make sure that we are not talking about some kind of prosperity gospel here.  We don’t love God because we believe that He can make our life plentiful and easy.  We are generous – that is the theme of this larger section of verses – because we know that God is generous with us.  When we act out of God’s love, God can take that generous act and cause it to multiply in ways that we could never have imagined.  That’s awesome to watch happen.  We start with some simple act of generosity, but in the recipient it blossoms into something more glorious than we could have ever hoped.

Do you believe that God is capable of doing this with your efforts?  Why is it important to remember that it is God who brings about such growth and multiplication?

Second Thought:

I love to hear Paul’s focus in these verses when it comes to the ultimate goal of any aspect of life – generosity included.  The ultimate goal is giving thanks to God.  The ultimate result is God’s name becoming praised.  We do not give for our own glory.  We don’t ultimately give to relieve the burdens of other people – although there is nothing wrong with that being a part of the rationale, certainly.  What is most important is that whenever we do something that thanksgiving towards God increases.  In the long term, what is of ultimate importance is that the relationship between people and God increases.

When you give, how focused are you on the relationship of the recipient and God?  How can you determine if cheerful giving helps a person draw closer to God and thanksgiving to God happens?

Third Thought:

I love the way Paul ends this passage.  After talking – in fairly confusing terms in the original Greek – about the people and their prayers for the Corinthians as they go about their daily walk with God, Paul reminds us that all of this is because of God’s indescribable gift.  All that we have – all that God gives to us – is through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.  We should not be in relationship with God, but we are through Christ.  We should not be acceptable recipients of God’s generosity but through Christ we are.  It is utterly indescribable how great God’s gift to us in Christ really is.  We can try to put it in words and talk about it as I have done here, but we really don’t do it justice even when we try.

How do you attempt to describe this indescribable gift?  Do you think it is important to try, even if it is indescribable?

Passage for Tomorrow: 2 Corinthians 10:1-6