You Can't Love Without Giving

September 25, 2024

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)  

Did you know that every time you give, you reveal what matters to you? 

Tell me how you spend your money, your energy and your time, and I’ll tell you what matters most to you. People make time for and spend money on what truly matters to them.

“Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had” (Philippians 2:4-5 NLT). 

A lot of people give, but they don’t do it with the right attitude. Whether they give out of guilt or pressure, or they want others to pat them on the back after they post a selfie with the person they just helped.

Giving with self-serving motives doesn’t count in God’s Kingdom.

Your giving should come from a place of love for God and for people.

"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1-4) 

This is exactly why we, at Seminole Church, give gift cards to parents of families who are struggling around Christmas time. Instead of going out and picking gifts for some other family, we have a generous church that gives gift cards. That way, the parents of the family we are helping get to go do the shopping. The parents get the credit. It’s not about us. It’s not about a Facebook post. It’s about loving people and serving people.

You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.

“There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.” (Acts 20:35) 

Even though it's not about us, it does feel good to give. God wants us as individuals and churches to be more generous, because it makes us more like him. He uses our giving to bless others. And, in turn, he uses our generosity to bless us.

Do you want your family to be more joyful? Then be more generous as a family. Do you want to be a more joyful person? Then be more generous as a person.

We are about to enter the “season of giving.” Obviously our giving isn’t limited to a season, but this fall I especially encourage you to intentionally be more generous with your time, your energy and your resources. Choose to give more than you naturally would, and then watch God bless your life because you chose to bless someone else. Choose to trust God with that.

There will be several opportunities to give back to your community here at SCC in the next few months. We need candy to pass out at our Trunk’R’Treat outreach. This is one of the biggest outreaches we do all year, and even though candy may not seem like much, Trunk'R'Treat has been a catalyst for many families to get plugged in with our church and then get introduced to Jesus for the first time. Bringing a bag of candy makes you a part of that outreach. You can bring candy this Sunday if this is something you’d like to give toward.

We also have Thanksgiving Bags that you can help fill in November. Thanksgiving Bags are great opportunity to help local families with Thanksgiving dinner who wouldn't normally have the means to provide their family with something special.

You can also give your time and energy by walking with us in the Sanford Pregnancy Center’s Walk for Life in October 19th. CLICK HERE to learn more about Walk for Life. You can register to walk with Seminole Community Outreach, or you can support our walkers if you can’t attend the event.