Today I Choose to Give...

Today I choose to give. To be generous with the blessings and talents that God has given me and give to others!
We have so much stuff! As I sit here, I am thinking about my house and all of the things that fill it. I have a closet filled with clothes, my kids have a toy room filled with toys, we have furniture in every room and I have a kitchen filled with wonderful pots, pans, baking equipment and more! All this to say, I am blessed!! And out of those blessings I need to give. I need to give of the material items that I have been blessed with and of the talents and gifts that God has given me. I know for myself that it can feel funny to talk about the talents and gifts that I have, it can feel boastful to say that we are really good at something. God has been challenging me and reminding me that I should be not ashamed to talk about the talents that he has given me, instead I should be using those talents for his glory!! The enemy can come in and easily convince us that we have nothing to offer and nothing to give, but God tells us that we are created in his image and that we are valuable. We have something to offer the body of Christ because we are all created differently, we all have different gifts and we need to use them for God's glory.
Proverbs 3:9-10 says, "Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." Although we might not have crops to give today, we still have much to offer the Lord. We are called to give money, time and things to the ministries of God. 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 tells us, "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." We are called to give with a cheerful heart, recognizing that God will provide for all of our needs! I have been amazed at the times in my life when God has provided for our needs. We have experienced times of unemployment and I have watched God's people generously give. I want to give generously so that I can be an encouragement to others as others have been an encouragement to me.
We should give because we love! Paul challenged the Corinthian believers to give generously in 2 Corinthians 8:7-8. "But just as you excel in everything - in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us - see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others." My Life Application Study Bible gives some great insight into these verses, "The Corinthians believers excelled in everything - they had faith, good preaching (speech), much knowledge, much earnestness, much love. Paul wanted them to also be leaders in giving. Giving is a natural response of love. Paul did not order the Corinthians to give, but he encouraged them to prove that their love was sincere. When you love someone, you want to give him or her your time, attention and to provide for his or her needs. If you refuse to help, your love is not as genuine as you say."
If we're not giving, is it because we aren't loving? Do we need to ask God to give us love for others, so that we in turn care to provide for their needs? I think we need to do just that! We must ask God to give us a heart to love others, to see them as he does and to meet their needs. I am so blessed and I want to be a blessing to others, whether it means giving of my things, my time or my talents. I want God to use everything I give and I am going to give God my best.
So today, I choose to give!