March 10, 2025 • 17 mins
What keeps us from giving freely when we know it's right? Fear. Though we claim to trust God with our lives, our grip on money often reveals a different story. In this candid conversation, we explore how our relationship with finances exposes what we truly believe about God's provision.
The rich young ruler approached Jesus with the ultimate question about eternal life, only to walk away sorrowful when asked to surrender his wealth. His story provides a striking contrast to the Macedonian churches who, despite "extreme poverty," gave with "abundance of joy" that "overflowed in wealth of generosity." These examples reveal that true generosity isn't measured by percentages or amounts but by heart condition and trust.
We tackle the common barriers that hold us back: fear of scarcity, desire for control, materialistic priorities, and simple unawareness of needs around us. Scripture challenges these mindsets by framing generosity not as loss but as seed-planting—"whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." This isn't prosperity gospel; it's about God multiplying our capacity to give more, creating a beautiful cycle where recipients glorify God through thanksgiving.
Ready for a practical challenge? Assess your finances this week and choose one way to stretch your generosity muscle. Try giving slightly beyond your comfort zone and watch how God works through your sacrifice. When we loosen our grip on money and trust God's provision, we discover the profound joy that comes from participating in His work through our resources.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Josh (00:07):
Welcome to Made for Good, the podcast where we explore how
to live out our purpose withgood works, guided by biblical
truth.
Hey.
I'm Josh.
Mark (00:14):
And I'm Mark.
Today we're talking about atopic that really impacts all of
us money, how we handle it,whether we hoard it, spend it
wisely or give generously.
It really reveals a lot aboutour hearts.
Josh (00:29):
Yeah, Mark, if we're being honest with each other, this is
one of these topics that's justreally challenging for money
for anyone to talk about.
Mark (00:36):
Yeah, and a lot of these Good Works, episodes or topics
or classes that we taught.
We looked at each other and go.
This is going to be achallenging one.
You know we're going to talkabout time.
We're going to talk about ourmoney.
This is let's just admit, thisis the beginning of our two-part
series in resource management,right?
So first is money.
(00:58):
We want to talk about thattoday.
Josh, let me ask you a question.
Why do you think peoplestruggle with giving, though
they know it's?
It's the right thing to do?
the bible's clear
Josh (01:10):
Well, I think it's a great question.
The reality is, I think a lotof people fear not having enough
.
You notice, I didn't say fearof not giving enough, I'm saying
fear of not having enough.
We like to think that we trustgod, but when it comes to money,
if we're being honest with eachother, oftentimes we feel like
we got to control it ourselvesand that fear keeps us from
(01:31):
giving freely.
Mark (01:33):
You know that's really true.
The you know the scripturewarns against placing our trust
in wealth.
You know, let's, let's take alook at 1 Timothy 6, verse 17.
It says command those who arerich in this present world not
to be arrogant.
Nor here's the key to put theirhope in wealth, which is so
(01:55):
uncertain.
Have you seen the stock market?
It's so uncertain.
But where should we place it?
But to put their hope in God,who richly provides us with
everything for our enjoyment.
You know, at the end of thatverse it doesn't say bare
minimum need, right, it sayseverything for our enjoyment.
(02:18):
God wants us to use the moneyas a tool rather than as
security.
When we trust Him, we can begenerous without fear.
Josh (02:32):
Which is a great transition into our segment of
Bible Basis for this week'sepisode, where we're going to
hang out at Mark 10.
And this is one of the moststriking Bible stories when it
comes to wealth and generosity.
As far as we're talking aboutthe rich young ruler, and before
we read verse 21, I just wantto say this guy gets to ask
(02:54):
Jesus the question that we wantto ask him.
You know, matter of fact, if wewere to pull a room and say if
you could ask Jesus any questionyou wanted to ask him, what
would that be?
Well, he does that.
He asks what is it going totake Jesus for me to inherit
eternal life?
And listen to what Jesus toldhim in verse 21.
You lack one thing Go, sell allthat you have and give to the
(03:17):
poor and you will have treasurein heaven and come follow me.
But we know the story and ifyou don't, you can go back to
Mark 10 and read it yourself.
He couldn't do it.
His wealth had a grip on hisheart and he walked away
sorrowful.
Mark (03:32):
I love the way Mark conveyed a detail in this story
that's not in other gospels.
Not in other gospels it saysJesus, looking at him, loved him
.
This is compassion.
We'll talk a lot in thispodcast about compassion leading
(03:55):
to action, the compassion thatJesus had for this person.
Of course he was divine and heknew the rich young ruler's
heart.
He knew what he was holding onto, he loved him and he told him
what he really needed to hear.
(04:15):
And Jesus wasn't saying, hey,having money is wrong, you know.
Clearly he actually wanted theman to use the money for good.
The man to use the money forgood.
He saw that this man's identityand his security in this life
was tied to his possessions.
Josh (04:34):
Yeah, let's look at the flip side of that is in 2
Corinthians 8, where we can readabout the Macedonian churches.
They were in severe poverty andyet they gave generously and
joyfully.
Matter of fact, Paul says in 2Corinthians 8, verse 2, In a
severe test of affliction, theirabundance of joy and their
extreme poverty have overflowedin a wealth of generosity on
(04:57):
their part.
Mark (04:58):
It doesn't say a wealth of a bank account, it says a
wealth of generosity.
So where's the wealth?
It's not in the bank, it's intheir heart.
The heart is where thatgenerosity is.
I love the contrast in thispassage.
You've got in one case, asevere test of affliction.
(05:20):
Right next to that you've gotabundance of joy, and then
you've got extreme poverty andthen you've got an overflow of
wealth, of generosity, and thesethings are not normally put
together.
But you can tell that theseMacedonians were rich.
They were rich in their heartsand that showed in the
(05:43):
generosity.
It shows that it's not abouthow much we have, it's about how
much we care, how much we love.
So, josh, I didn't see anydollar amounts, I didn't see any
percentages.
You know tithing in the OldTestament, that's what the, the
nation of Israel, was to do.
God told them, gave them anumber.
(06:04):
Right, very, very clearly.
But in the New Testament, where, where Christians are given
instruction About how to live,we don't get percentages.
He doesn't.
He's not measuring ourgenerosity by how much we give,
(06:27):
but really, what is thecondition of our heart when we
give?
There are two different examples.
So if you want numbers, youwant numbers?
Josh (06:36):
Sure!
Mark (06:37):
Okay, there's two numbers that actually are in the New
Testament.
So we're talking about thestory of Zacchaeus and the poor
widow.
So let's look at those twonumbers.
Let's pull out some realfinancial data that we can use.
So Zacchaeus he was a wealthytax collector, but he showed his
(06:57):
repentance.
He was looking to know moreabout Jesus and just by his
acceptance and his faith inJesus he says in Luke 19, 8,
look, lord, here and now I givehalf of my possessions to the
poor and if I've cheated anybodyout of anything, I will pay
(07:20):
back four times that amount.
Half what's that percentage,josh?
Josh (07:25):
50% 50%, by the way.
Thanks for asking me an easierquestion.
It's not really hard.
Mark (07:30):
All right.
So half of his possessions hecommitted to giving to the poor.
All right, so there's thenumber half, 50%.
Then you go look at the poorwidow in Luke 21, verses three
and four.
The poor widow only gave twosmall coins.
But Jesus said truly, I say toyou, this poor widow has put in
(07:53):
more than all, for all these,out of their abundance have put
in offerings for God, but she,out of her poverty, put in all
the livelihood she had.
What's that number?
Put in all the livelihood shehad.
What's that number?
All All, a hundred percent, ahundred percent.
Okay, so here's, we wantnumbers.
You got to choose between 50and 100.
This was not really aboutnumbers, this was about their
(08:20):
heart.
Did the poor widow trust thatGod would provide?
Yep, she gave everything thatshe had.
Josh (08:24):
Both of these are really powerful.
As you said, Zacchaeus gavefrom his wealth, while she gave
everything she had, and theseare just acts of faith and
surrender.
Mark (08:33):
And trust, and trust.
So what does that mean for us?
Well, it really means that weneed to move from an idea of
ownership that we own thesethings to stewardship, that God
has given us those thingstemporarily.
How do we use them for good andhow do we reflect glory back to
(08:55):
God with those resources he'sgiven us.
Josh (08:57):
This is a great transition right into our reality check
segment of this week's episode.
We're going to circle back tothe question that we've talked
about a couple of times and whatholds people back from
generosity, and we've mentioneda couple already.
But there's several struggles,or maybe I should say common
struggles.
One of them we've touched on acouple of times already is just
this aspect of fear, fear of nothaving enough.
(09:19):
We worry that that if we give,maybe we won't give enough.
Or maybe, specifically to thisfear aspect is we won't have
enough leftover for ourselves.
And then we have this idea inour own minds that we wrestle
with desire of control.
If we're being honest and I'mtalking to myself here we like
to manage every dollar insteadof trusting God with our
(09:40):
resources.
But in America, what westruggle with probably the most
is materialism.
I want what I want and I likewhat I want, and I'm going to
use what I want, use myresources.
So we're getting personal now.
Yeah, okay, we prioritizecomfort and personal goals over
generosity.
And then the last thing is andI'll just say this we have an
(10:03):
episode about this coming up.
It's one of my favorite ones.
We're going to discuss.
It's just unawareness.
If we're being honest,sometimes we are just unaware of
what's going on around us, andbecause of that we don't give
freely.
Mark (10:18):
Well, scripture tells us to give generously, without fear
.
It gives us to give freely.
Let's take a look at a passagehere 2 Corinthians 9, verse 6.
And if you turn over there inyour Bible or scroll over there
on your app on your phone, we'regoing to look at this and then
we'll look at something else ina minute.
(10:39):
The Bible says whoever sowssparingly will also reap
sparingly, and whoever sowsbountifully will also reap
bountifully.
You know just people who areprobably not that familiar with
the Bible.
Even they get this concept andthey probably heard it.
Generosity is not about losingwhat we gave.
(11:00):
It's about planting seeds.
It's about planting seeds.
When we give cheerfully, as Godwants us to.
He will provide for our needsand he will use what we gave in
the help of others.
Josh (11:15):
Absolutely.
Giving isn't just about money,it's about trust, and I think we
need to just sit on that for aminute.
Do we trust God enough to givefreely, knowing that he'll
provide for us?
On to that, I would just add weprobably even wrestle with
another question, and that's dowe doubt God's power that he can
provide?
Mark (11:34):
Yes, and another idea here is fundamental to good works.
What do we say at the beginning?
Why do we do good works?
What's the purpose?
The purpose is to glorify God.
If you want to glorify God,what do you do?
(11:55):
Well, as I mentioned a secondago, let's stay in 2 Corinthians
9.
Let's go look at verse 10.
We're going to read downthrough verse 13.
This is a super powerfulpassage.
So who's talking?
So Paul wrote this letter tothe Corinthians.
There were several letters tothe Corinthians.
We have two recorded in theBible.
He's encouraging them to dosomething to help some other
(12:17):
people.
We already talked about theMacedonians having extreme
poverty.
He's asking them to trust inGod.
Then God will provide theirneeds.
So let's read that real quick.
He who supplies seed to thesower and bread for food who's
that?
That's God will supply andmultiply your seed.
(12:41):
We talked about.
Generosity is not about losing amoment ago.
It's about planting seeds.
God will multiply your seed.
Why For you to eat?
No, for you to sow and increasethe harvest of your
righteousness.
I love that phrase, the harvestof your righteousness.
And then, in verse 11, you willbe enriched in every way.
(13:04):
To fatten your bank account?
No, to be generous in every way.
God's going to bless us so thatwe can bless other people.
You will be enriched in everyway.
To be generous in every waywhich, through us, the
recipients will produce.
Thanksgiving to God For theministry verse 12, for the
(13:27):
ministry of this service is notonly supplying the needs of the
saints, but here's anotherbyproduct it's meeting the
immediate need, but it is alsooverflowing in many
thanksgivings to God.
So that's twice in verse 11 and12, where it says thanksgivings
to God.
By their approval of thisservice, meaning their
(13:50):
acceptance of this gift, theywill glorify God because of your
submission that comes from yourconfession of the gospel of
Christ.
In other words, that's theirfaith and the generosity of your
contribution for them and forothers.
Contribution for them and forothers.
So if you want to glorify God,if that is your goal, if you're
(14:17):
looking for a way, how can Iglorify God today?
You can give.
And so here's our challenge foryou this week Ask yourself am I
being generous with what God hasgiven me?
So we want you to assess yourfinances.
Hopefully you're working from abudget.
Go through, see where you are.
You know they got apps to tellyou that you're spending money
(14:40):
on things you don't even knowthat you're spending money on,
because they're subscriptionsand they just happen.
This is not sponsored by theRocket app yet Maybe I don't
know.
Ask yourself am I beinggenerous with what God has given
me and then decide, ok, I wantto choose one way to be generous
(15:02):
this week.
It could be supporting someonemaybe that you know is working
in a remote area preaching thegospel.
It could be giving to somebodyin need.
It could be giving to yourchurch.
What we're talking about is afinancial gift, because this
(15:23):
episode is about money.
This is you building your trustin giving instead of worrying
about what you might lose.
Pray that God gives you somepeace in this generosity.
Now I recently heard a coach whowrote a book.
He was promoting the book andgave it, gave this talk, and he
(15:46):
said, ok, I want everybody toraise your hand as high as you
can raise it, all right.
So this crowd of two, threehundred people, everybody raised
their hand, but he said as highas you can reach it, he goes.
Now reach a quarter of an inchhigher.
So it's that concept of, andthen some Part of what our
(16:14):
service is, our spiritualsacrifice.
That's a term that's used inthe Bible a lot, what our
spiritual sacrifice can be togive, and maybe to give a little
bit beyond what we'recomfortable with, and just try
it.
Just try and see if you cangive a little bit more, because,
(16:36):
look, giving to others in thispassage in 2 Corinthians very
clearly causes the recipient toglorify God and to give thanks
to God, and so it may mean thatyou have to sacrifice something,
it may mean you need to drop asubscription somewhere, but this
(16:58):
is something that'll be veryvaluable to bless someone else.
Josh (17:03):
With that, just as a reminder, we will drop our
mission, our weekly mission, asMark just outlined for us, on
all forms of our social mediaaccounts.
We're on X, we're on Instagram,we're on Facebook and you know,
don't forget to follow allthose and like and whatever else
you do on social media.
Mark (17:21):
Like and subscribe and ring the bell and I don't know
what all that is.
Well, that's it for today'sepisode of Made for Good.
If this conversation inspiredyou, be sure to subscribe so you
don't miss the next one.
Josh (17:34):
And if you found this valuable and we hope that you
did consider sharing it with afriend.
Until next time, trust God,give freely and remember you
were made for good.
Welcome to Made for Good, the podcast where we explore how
to live out our purpose withgood works, guided by biblical
truth.
Hey.
I'm Josh.
Mark (00:14):
And I'm Mark.
Today we're talking about atopic that really impacts all of
us money, how we handle it,whether we hoard it, spend it
wisely or give generously.
It really reveals a lot aboutour hearts.
Josh (00:29):
Yeah, Mark, if we're being honest with each other, this is
one of these topics that's justreally challenging for money
for anyone to talk about.
Mark (00:36):
Yeah, and a lot of these Good Works, episodes or topics
or classes that we taught.
We looked at each other and go.
This is going to be achallenging one.
You know we're going to talkabout time.
We're going to talk about ourmoney.
This is let's just admit, thisis the beginning of our two-part
series in resource management,right?
So first is money.
(00:58):
We want to talk about thattoday.
Josh, let me ask you a question.
Why do you think peoplestruggle with giving, though
they know it's?
It's the right thing to do?
the bible's clear
Josh (01:10):
Well, I think it's a great question.
The reality is, I think a lotof people fear not having enough
.
You notice, I didn't say fearof not giving enough, I'm saying
fear of not having enough.
We like to think that we trustgod, but when it comes to money,
if we're being honest with eachother, oftentimes we feel like
we got to control it ourselvesand that fear keeps us from
(01:31):
giving freely.
Mark (01:33):
You know that's really true.
The you know the scripturewarns against placing our trust
in wealth.
You know, let's, let's take alook at 1 Timothy 6, verse 17.
It says command those who arerich in this present world not
to be arrogant.
Nor here's the key to put theirhope in wealth, which is so
(01:55):
uncertain.
Have you seen the stock market?
It's so uncertain.
But where should we place it?
But to put their hope in God,who richly provides us with
everything for our enjoyment.
You know, at the end of thatverse it doesn't say bare
minimum need, right, it sayseverything for our enjoyment.
(02:18):
God wants us to use the moneyas a tool rather than as
security.
When we trust Him, we can begenerous without fear.
Josh (02:32):
Which is a great transition into our segment of
Bible Basis for this week'sepisode, where we're going to
hang out at Mark 10.
And this is one of the moststriking Bible stories when it
comes to wealth and generosity.
As far as we're talking aboutthe rich young ruler, and before
we read verse 21, I just wantto say this guy gets to ask
(02:54):
Jesus the question that we wantto ask him.
You know, matter of fact, if wewere to pull a room and say if
you could ask Jesus any questionyou wanted to ask him, what
would that be?
Well, he does that.
He asks what is it going totake Jesus for me to inherit
eternal life?
And listen to what Jesus toldhim in verse 21.
You lack one thing Go, sell allthat you have and give to the
(03:17):
poor and you will have treasurein heaven and come follow me.
But we know the story and ifyou don't, you can go back to
Mark 10 and read it yourself.
He couldn't do it.
His wealth had a grip on hisheart and he walked away
sorrowful.
Mark (03:32):
I love the way Mark conveyed a detail in this story
that's not in other gospels.
Not in other gospels it saysJesus, looking at him, loved him
.
This is compassion.
We'll talk a lot in thispodcast about compassion leading
(03:55):
to action, the compassion thatJesus had for this person.
Of course he was divine and heknew the rich young ruler's
heart.
He knew what he was holding onto, he loved him and he told him
what he really needed to hear.
(04:15):
And Jesus wasn't saying, hey,having money is wrong, you know.
Clearly he actually wanted theman to use the money for good.
The man to use the money forgood.
He saw that this man's identityand his security in this life
was tied to his possessions.
Josh (04:34):
Yeah, let's look at the flip side of that is in 2
Corinthians 8, where we can readabout the Macedonian churches.
They were in severe poverty andyet they gave generously and
joyfully.
Matter of fact, Paul says in 2Corinthians 8, verse 2, In a
severe test of affliction, theirabundance of joy and their
extreme poverty have overflowedin a wealth of generosity on
(04:57):
their part.
Mark (04:58):
It doesn't say a wealth of a bank account, it says a
wealth of generosity.
So where's the wealth?
It's not in the bank, it's intheir heart.
The heart is where thatgenerosity is.
I love the contrast in thispassage.
You've got in one case, asevere test of affliction.
(05:20):
Right next to that you've gotabundance of joy, and then
you've got extreme poverty andthen you've got an overflow of
wealth, of generosity, and thesethings are not normally put
together.
But you can tell that theseMacedonians were rich.
They were rich in their heartsand that showed in the
(05:43):
generosity.
It shows that it's not abouthow much we have, it's about how
much we care, how much we love.
So, josh, I didn't see anydollar amounts, I didn't see any
percentages.
You know tithing in the OldTestament, that's what the, the
nation of Israel, was to do.
God told them, gave them anumber.
(06:04):
Right, very, very clearly.
But in the New Testament, where, where Christians are given
instruction About how to live,we don't get percentages.
He doesn't.
He's not measuring ourgenerosity by how much we give,
(06:27):
but really, what is thecondition of our heart when we
give?
There are two different examples.
So if you want numbers, youwant numbers?
Josh (06:36):
Sure!
Mark (06:37):
Okay, there's two numbers that actually are in the New
Testament.
So we're talking about thestory of Zacchaeus and the poor
widow.
So let's look at those twonumbers.
Let's pull out some realfinancial data that we can use.
So Zacchaeus he was a wealthytax collector, but he showed his
(06:57):
repentance.
He was looking to know moreabout Jesus and just by his
acceptance and his faith inJesus he says in Luke 19, 8,
look, lord, here and now I givehalf of my possessions to the
poor and if I've cheated anybodyout of anything, I will pay
(07:20):
back four times that amount.
Half what's that percentage,josh?
Josh (07:25):
50% 50%, by the way.
Thanks for asking me an easierquestion.
It's not really hard.
Mark (07:30):
All right.
So half of his possessions hecommitted to giving to the poor.
All right, so there's thenumber half, 50%.
Then you go look at the poorwidow in Luke 21, verses three
and four.
The poor widow only gave twosmall coins.
But Jesus said truly, I say toyou, this poor widow has put in
(07:53):
more than all, for all these,out of their abundance have put
in offerings for God, but she,out of her poverty, put in all
the livelihood she had.
What's that number?
Put in all the livelihood shehad.
What's that number?
All All, a hundred percent, ahundred percent.
Okay, so here's, we wantnumbers.
You got to choose between 50and 100.
This was not really aboutnumbers, this was about their
(08:20):
heart.
Did the poor widow trust thatGod would provide?
Yep, she gave everything thatshe had.
Josh (08:24):
Both of these are really powerful.
As you said, Zacchaeus gavefrom his wealth, while she gave
everything she had, and theseare just acts of faith and
surrender.
Mark (08:33):
And trust, and trust.
So what does that mean for us?
Well, it really means that weneed to move from an idea of
ownership that we own thesethings to stewardship, that God
has given us those thingstemporarily.
How do we use them for good andhow do we reflect glory back to
(08:55):
God with those resources he'sgiven us.
Josh (08:57):
This is a great transition right into our reality check
segment of this week's episode.
We're going to circle back tothe question that we've talked
about a couple of times and whatholds people back from
generosity, and we've mentioneda couple already.
But there's several struggles,or maybe I should say common
struggles.
One of them we've touched on acouple of times already is just
this aspect of fear, fear of nothaving enough.
(09:19):
We worry that that if we give,maybe we won't give enough.
Or maybe, specifically to thisfear aspect is we won't have
enough leftover for ourselves.
And then we have this idea inour own minds that we wrestle
with desire of control.
If we're being honest and I'mtalking to myself here we like
to manage every dollar insteadof trusting God with our
(09:40):
resources.
But in America, what westruggle with probably the most
is materialism.
I want what I want and I likewhat I want, and I'm going to
use what I want, use myresources.
So we're getting personal now.
Yeah, okay, we prioritizecomfort and personal goals over
generosity.
And then the last thing is andI'll just say this we have an
(10:03):
episode about this coming up.
It's one of my favorite ones.
We're going to discuss.
It's just unawareness.
If we're being honest,sometimes we are just unaware of
what's going on around us, andbecause of that we don't give
freely.
Mark (10:18):
Well, scripture tells us to give generously, without fear
.
It gives us to give freely.
Let's take a look at a passagehere 2 Corinthians 9, verse 6.
And if you turn over there inyour Bible or scroll over there
on your app on your phone, we'regoing to look at this and then
we'll look at something else ina minute.
(10:39):
The Bible says whoever sowssparingly will also reap
sparingly, and whoever sowsbountifully will also reap
bountifully.
You know just people who areprobably not that familiar with
the Bible.
Even they get this concept andthey probably heard it.
Generosity is not about losingwhat we gave.
(11:00):
It's about planting seeds.
It's about planting seeds.
When we give cheerfully, as Godwants us to.
He will provide for our needsand he will use what we gave in
the help of others.
Josh (11:15):
Absolutely.
Giving isn't just about money,it's about trust, and I think we
need to just sit on that for aminute.
Do we trust God enough to givefreely, knowing that he'll
provide for us?
On to that, I would just add weprobably even wrestle with
another question, and that's dowe doubt God's power that he can
provide?
Mark (11:34):
Yes, and another idea here is fundamental to good works.
What do we say at the beginning?
Why do we do good works?
What's the purpose?
The purpose is to glorify God.
If you want to glorify God,what do you do?
(11:55):
Well, as I mentioned a secondago, let's stay in 2 Corinthians
9.
Let's go look at verse 10.
We're going to read downthrough verse 13.
This is a super powerfulpassage.
So who's talking?
So Paul wrote this letter tothe Corinthians.
There were several letters tothe Corinthians.
We have two recorded in theBible.
He's encouraging them to dosomething to help some other
(12:17):
people.
We already talked about theMacedonians having extreme
poverty.
He's asking them to trust inGod.
Then God will provide theirneeds.
So let's read that real quick.
He who supplies seed to thesower and bread for food who's
that?
That's God will supply andmultiply your seed.
(12:41):
We talked about.
Generosity is not about losing amoment ago.
It's about planting seeds.
God will multiply your seed.
Why For you to eat?
No, for you to sow and increasethe harvest of your
righteousness.
I love that phrase, the harvestof your righteousness.
And then, in verse 11, you willbe enriched in every way.
(13:04):
To fatten your bank account?
No, to be generous in every way.
God's going to bless us so thatwe can bless other people.
You will be enriched in everyway.
To be generous in every waywhich, through us, the
recipients will produce.
Thanksgiving to God For theministry verse 12, for the
(13:27):
ministry of this service is notonly supplying the needs of the
saints, but here's anotherbyproduct it's meeting the
immediate need, but it is alsooverflowing in many
thanksgivings to God.
So that's twice in verse 11 and12, where it says thanksgivings
to God.
By their approval of thisservice, meaning their
(13:50):
acceptance of this gift, theywill glorify God because of your
submission that comes from yourconfession of the gospel of
Christ.
In other words, that's theirfaith and the generosity of your
contribution for them and forothers.
Contribution for them and forothers.
So if you want to glorify God,if that is your goal, if you're
(14:17):
looking for a way, how can Iglorify God today?
You can give.
And so here's our challenge foryou this week Ask yourself am I
being generous with what God hasgiven me?
So we want you to assess yourfinances.
Hopefully you're working from abudget.
Go through, see where you are.
You know they got apps to tellyou that you're spending money
(14:40):
on things you don't even knowthat you're spending money on,
because they're subscriptionsand they just happen.
This is not sponsored by theRocket app yet Maybe I don't
know.
Ask yourself am I beinggenerous with what God has given
me and then decide, ok, I wantto choose one way to be generous
(15:02):
this week.
It could be supporting someonemaybe that you know is working
in a remote area preaching thegospel.
It could be giving to somebodyin need.
It could be giving to yourchurch.
What we're talking about is afinancial gift, because this
(15:23):
episode is about money.
This is you building your trustin giving instead of worrying
about what you might lose.
Pray that God gives you somepeace in this generosity.
Now I recently heard a coach whowrote a book.
He was promoting the book andgave it, gave this talk, and he
(15:46):
said, ok, I want everybody toraise your hand as high as you
can raise it, all right.
So this crowd of two, threehundred people, everybody raised
their hand, but he said as highas you can reach it, he goes.
Now reach a quarter of an inchhigher.
So it's that concept of, andthen some Part of what our
(16:14):
service is, our spiritualsacrifice.
That's a term that's used inthe Bible a lot, what our
spiritual sacrifice can be togive, and maybe to give a little
bit beyond what we'recomfortable with, and just try
it.
Just try and see if you cangive a little bit more, because,
(16:36):
look, giving to others in thispassage in 2 Corinthians very
clearly causes the recipient toglorify God and to give thanks
to God, and so it may mean thatyou have to sacrifice something,
it may mean you need to drop asubscription somewhere, but this
(16:58):
is something that'll be veryvaluable to bless someone else.
Josh (17:03):
With that, just as a reminder, we will drop our
mission, our weekly mission, asMark just outlined for us, on
all forms of our social mediaaccounts.
We're on X, we're on Instagram,we're on Facebook and you know,
don't forget to follow allthose and like and whatever else
you do on social media.
Mark (17:21):
Like and subscribe and ring the bell and I don't know
what all that is.
Well, that's it for today'sepisode of Made for Good.
If this conversation inspiredyou, be sure to subscribe so you
don't miss the next one.
Josh (17:34):
And if you found this valuable and we hope that you
did consider sharing it with afriend.
Until next time, trust God,give freely and remember you
were made for good.
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