Sunday, February 14, 2021

How to Love Generous Living

We have been talking a lot lately about generous living. Today at church, we are talking about learning to love living generously. Our focal passage for today is in 1 Timothy.

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
¹¹But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. ¹²Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³I direct you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴that you keep the commandment without fault or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

¹⁷Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. - 1 Timothy 6:10-17

The following are my Bible study notes based on my pastor's sermon. You are invited to watch, listen, and worship with us here.

How to Love Generous Living

Loving generosity will protect you from the love of money, which causes people to wander away from their faith.

A generous person will be prosperous,
And one who gives others plenty of water will himself be given plenty. - Proverbs 11:25
One who is generous will be blessed,
Because he gives some of his food to the poor. - Proverbs 22:9

Generosity invites God's blessings into your life. It is more about what God wants for you than what He wants from you.

The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever. - 1 John 2:17

How to Love Generous Living

1. We need a spiritual understanding.

Money is temporary. It is not permanent.

As he came naked from his mother’s womb, so he will return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand. This also is a sickening evil: exactly as a person is born, so will he die. What then is the advantage for him who labors for the wind? - Ecclesiastes 5:15-16

When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
For wealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens. - Proverbs 23:5

Money is not certain. Only God and His Word are absolute.

Money is not satisfying. When we have a little money, we tend to want more.

The love of money will never cure the greed in a person's heart.

2. We need a personal understanding.

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. - 1 Timothy 6:17

God wants you to enjoy what He has given you.

God wants us to share with others.

Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share. - 1 Timothy 6:18

Tithing is Biblical.

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and put Me to the test now in this,” says the Lord of armies, “if I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. - Malachi 3:10

This wall decal is available here.

Tithing is more than a law. It's about love. Tithing is not commanded in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, it was law. In the New Testament, it's about grace and loving others.

Tithing is the best way to love generous living.