Dr. Crawford Loritts leads us through 2 Corinthians 9, teaching that sacrifice is God’s disposition towards us; therefore, our giving is a picture of the Gospel. Generosity not only honors God and those around us but changes the fabric of who we are.
Key Takeaway
Giving isn't something we have to do; it's something we get to do as a worship response to all that has been given to us through Christ's sacrifice.
God often gives us holy handicaps—things placed in our lives to help us depend on Him. He creates a gap for us to trust Him even more.
Resources are at the heart of the Gospel—we are meant to be givers.
We need to be where God is at work. God wants to use all of us to advance His work. It’s not about one person or a platform; it’s about all of us joining Him and becoming owners of what He wants to do.
Christianity isn’t about leveraging Jesus to look better—Biblical Christianity is about looking more and more like Jesus, and we want everything we do to be evidence of that.
1. Generosity is a portrait and a picture of the Gospel
- To be godly is to be generous.
- God's disposition is mercy, grace, and love towards us—He is looking for us to be generous as He was generous.
- We are all susceptible to mild Christianity, and familiarity can breed things in us like entitlement.
- When you get too accustomed to the blessing and favor of God, and you lose the realization of how low you were and everything God has done for you, you develop a callousness around your heart. We begin embracing the attitude that we deserve this. Entitlement is a step away from narcissism.
- People have a tendency to leverage their relationship with God to make themselves the center of everything.
- The shocking thing about Christianity is the remarkable lengths God went for us to let us know that He loves us. God said that we were worth giving up everything, and His disposition toward us is sacrificial generosity.
- Giving is an expression of gratitude for the mercy and grace we have received. You give because you have received the Gospel and are grateful for God’s mercy and pleasure.
- We want to be vehicles to bring mercy and grace to others.
- Giving should always be a part of worship because giving is the expression of great theology and wonder of salvation.
2. Generosity is also the pathway to our own personal provision
- God does not need your money, but we need to give. We give because we’re grateful and because everything we own is His.
- Don’t give money if someone is twisting your arm. You’re free to give because you’ve experienced grace, mercy, and favor.
- Our contentment isn’t in our resources—it’s in our source. God is taking care of us and we’re going to get back what we’ve given because giving to the cause of Christ is an investment in your future. We get to give so that we may give again
- God can’t put anything in your hand because your fist is balled up. If you hold onto what you have, He will be restricted, but when we open our hands and give back to God everything that we have there’s no telling what He will do.
- He will provide for you.
Discussion Questions
What holy handicaps has God placed in your life?
How have these gaps helped you learn to depend on and trust in Him?
How has God used you through your generosity?
Have you ever leveraged your relationship with God for selfish ambition? How?
Dr. Crawford Loritts teaches that God's disposition to us is mercy, grace, and love. How has God's generosity toward us reframed how you understand giving?
Have you experienced "mild Christianity" yourself? What Scripture can we cling to when we're tempted to live as lukewarm Christians?
If giving is an expression of gratitude for the mercy and grace we have received from Christ, how is your giving reflective of that?
Re-read 2 Corinthians 9:6-7. Have you been giving reluctantly or under compulsion? How do you think this mindset shift of giving cheerfully affects our generosity?
What has your contentment been in if it isn't in God?
How have you been balling up your fist, not allowing God to take control? Do you truly believe that God will provide for you?
Scripture References
