You remember the story where Jesus takes a little boy’s lunch of five loaves of bread and two fish—his “Levite Lunchable” or “Hebrew Hot Pockets”—and turns it into enough food for more than 5,000 people.
But did you ever wonder what Jesus would have done if he didn’t have five loaves and two fish? What if he’d only had one fish and two loaves of bread? It wouldn’t have made a difference; it would have been the same outcome. He could have done the same miraculous work with a bread crumb and a fish fin. The amount we give matters far less than the spirit with which we give.
That’s the principle at work when we talk about generosity in the church. In the same way Jesus took what the boy had and increased it, God multiplies our giving when we offer it in surrender and faith. It has nothing to do with how much money we bring, but that we are willing to place it all in the hands of Jesus.
When Paul starts his conversation about generosity in 2 Corinthians 9, he doesn’t start with a need that God has but with a grace God wants to give.
God is not short on money, but the giving by his people is the means by which he pursues his mission on earth and releases his abundance. It’s how God multiplies grace in our lives.
Paul says, “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way” (2 Corinthians 9:10-11 ESV).
So, what does Paul mean when he says “in every way”?
Does he mean God will increase us financially? Yes, that is included in the word “every.” It’s a promise repeated throughout Scripture: “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine” (Proverbs 3:9-10).
But Paul doesn’t mean that this is just an investment program. “Every” is a big, expansive word.
The image of sowing here is a really illuminating one. What we harvest in sowing often looks quite different than what we planted. Have you ever seen a peach seed? It’s this hard, ugly thing you’d never want to eat—it looks like a rat brain, in fact—but from it comes a tree with luscious fruits.
Money is like a seed you plant that harvests in multiple fruits much better than itself. What are those other things?
1. Giving produces greater contentment.
Many have said that the secret to a happy life is not having all you want but wanting what you have. Paul says it this way: “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6). The greatest gain is contentment.
2. Giving increases your love for the kingdom of God.
Putting your treasure in a place actually makes you begin to love that place more. I knew a guy who loved UNC, but then his daughter went to Duke. After a while, he started cheering for them Devils. Why? Because when you are giving $70,000 a year to someone, your heart goes with it.
Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).
3. Giving clarifies your purpose.
I talked to a guy in his 50s who said that he spent the first part of his life trying to gather and save. He was already a Christian, and he always thought he was doing it for his kids. But as he began to reflect on his legacy, he realized it felt empty. Only as he began to give sacrificially did he begin to discover a real sense of purpose and legacy in his life.
4. Giving produces a more loving heart.
Stinginess shrinks your heart. It breeds isolation. Giving opens you up, and an open heart is a much happier heart.
Most of us think generosity is something God wants from us, but according to Paul, it is something he wants for us. These four fruits are just some of the things God makes you abound in when you are generous.
You end up being like that little boy who gave the five loaves and two fish. After it was all said and done, they collected the leftovers, and it filled 12 baskets. It’s not in the text, but I’m convinced that the little boy got to take home at least one of those baskets. Imagine him walking back into his house. He had left his house with a Levite Lunchable and returned home with a Tabernacle Tailgate Special (patent pending) that Jesus created through spontaneous generation!
When we are worried about what we will have to give up, we need to think instead about what God wants us to gain through generous giving.
For more, be sure to listen to the entire message here.
