Last night at the East Campus was powerful! Debt-smashing principles were shared in the Midweek class entitled: The Road to Financial Empowerment. My class on: How to Effectively Influence Others was eye-opening for many as they learned how people within their sphere of influence are seeing them. Tonight @ 7:00 p.m., there will be a repeat performance at the West Campus. Don’t come on time, come early! We’ll spend a few minutes in prayer before we jump into the word.
Learning about God’s views on money is exciting and at the same time quite challenging. David speaks in a pretty strong tone when he writes: “The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously” (Psalm 37:21).
The tone is rough if you are in the habit of not repaying your debts. I don’t believe David is speaking about the inability to repay your debts. He’s speaking of the unwillingness to repay your debts because of a lack of proper money management habits or of a person who just wants to get over on others. The contrast we see is the good practices of the righteous person as it pertains to financial matters. These individuals are able to bless others because of how well they have learned to manage their monies.
Generosity is shown here to be a trait of godliness. How generous are you? Or, maybe I should ask: How godly are you? If someone had to write an article about your character and the only data source was your checkbook, will they conclude that you are godly?
Post an example of a godly person whom you know and why you say they are godly. What role does generosity play in that description?
Last October when I was fund-raising for the Dominican Republic Mission Trip, the departure date was quickly approaching and I was still short quite a few hundred dollars. I started to feel discouraged and questioned if God even wanted me to go on this trip. A lady whom I believed to be godly did something to further confirm my beliefs. Having no idea that I was doubting my decision to go on this mission trip, she called me that evening to meet up with her to receive her donation. She cheerfully ("God loves a cheerful giver") handed me a $500 check because she was excited about my willingness to serve in this ministry. I cried for ten minutes straight. Her generosity completely caught me off guard. How we spend our money says a lot about our faith in God, and her generosity spoke volumes. In 30 seconds or less I can think of ten things she could do with $500, but she chose to invest it into God's kingdom, with no hesitation... I'm still amazed.
ReplyDeleteTarana: What a powerful personal example! Fellow bloggers, chime into the conversation and brag about our God.
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