They Gave. What Have You Done?

Abel gave an acceptable sacrifice.

Enoch gave absolute commitment.

Noah gave manual labor.

Abraham would have given his only son.

Joseph gave up his hopes, dreams, and plans.

Moses gave strong, Godly leadership.

Joshua gave good council, both in war and in peace.

Rahab gave shelter to the spies, by faith.

The Judges gave justice and guidance in troubled times.

Ruth gave unconditional love.

Elijah and Elisha gave healing, judgement, and hope.

Nehemiah gave up time and personal safety.

Esther gave deliverance to her people.

Job gave everything precious to him.

David gave mercy to his enemies and passionate praise to God.

Solomon gave of his wealth.

Isaiah gave prophecies of the coming Messiah.

Jeremiah gave truth where truth was not wanted.

Ezekiel gave God's Word, though everyone hated him for it.

Daniel gave his whole heart, mind and strength.

The three Hebrew children gave their bodies to violent death rather than disobey God.

Hosea gave to those who were not worthy.

Jonah gave under protest.

Matthew gave up his dishonest livelihood.

Mark gave his service.

Luke gave his talents.

John gave humbly.

Paul gave writings, time, and strength.

The widow gave two mites, all her living.

Mary gave precious ointment.

Martha gave her skills.

Zaccheus gave back four times as much as he took.

The little boy gave his loaves and fishes.

Peter gave bold deliverance of The Word.

Barnabas gave compassion and support.

Dorcas gave help to widows.

One of the ten healed lepers gave God the glory.

The woman at the well gave her testimony.

Timothy gave behind the scenes work and encouragement.

Philemon gave undeserved forgiveness.

Onesimus gave up his freedom.

All of them gave their lives.

And One Jesus Christ of Nazareth gave more than all of these. He gave His perfect, holy blood. He gave His ALL. He gave so we could live. He gave matchless grace.

What have you given?

Sunday Snippets: 5 Ways You Can be a Godly Giver

2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Sorry about the late post this week...the last few days have been a bit crazy with work, etc. :)

I can't believe that Christmas is less than a week away!! I'm always a bit sad when the Christmas season draws to a close; it's my favorite time of year. (As if I haven't already said that. ;)

In this season of giving, so many have a really wrong idea of what it truly means to give in a Godly way. We as Christians need to have our focus on the right things, at Christmas time just as any other time! So what does this mean in practice? Here are five characteristics of a Godly giver. (Note: this verse is usually applied to the aspect of giving to the church in tithes and offerings. However, today I'm going to broaden the application out to include giving in general. :)

• Godly givers purpose in their heart beforehand what they can give. They do not go into debt in order to give extravagant gifts that are beyond their current means. They also put thought into what they do get. Whether they make homemade gifts, or buy them, they consider what they are doing and think about what the recipient of the gift would like or need.

• Godly givers do not give grudgingly. Someone with a Christlike attitude is not going to be saying, "Ugh, I guess. Here. You owe me." They give without expectation or demands for a return gift.

• Going hand in hand with the last one, Godly givers do not give of necessity. They don't only give to someone when that person has done something nice for them, or to "pay off a debt". They give because they truly want to be a blessing to another person!

• Godly givers are cheerful in their sharing. They understand that there is a very specific blessing reserved for those who give in the right way. They give with a joyful heart, knowing that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

• Godly givers do not just give at Christmas or other holidays, nor do they give only to those who are nice to them. They give unselfishly, no matter the person or the circumstances.

Think for a moment about the greatest gift of all time, given by the Father to the world. God did not give His only Son with a sour attitude, but with a love that we can never fathom. Jesus did not give His life grudgingly or of necessity. He owed us nothing. Less than nothing. In fact, we all deserve to perish anyway. And yet He still gave His all in order to rescue us. With such an example before us, how can we not give in the same way? 

This Christmas, I want to challenge you to strive to be a Godly giver. The THINGS you are giving do not matter! If all you can give is a smile, or a hug, or a listening ear...do it with a cheerful heart. God loves and blesses those who give as He did.

I have a four day weekend for Christmas, so I am really excited about that! I look forward to spending time with my family. I hope all of you have a blessed week! What are some of your favorite things about Christmas? <3

Mykaela