Scripture: Genesis 14
This morning we are continuing our Origins stories from the book of Genesis. Last week, Abraham generously gave his nephew Lot first choice in the land and Lot chose to move away. This week we will see Abraham generously giving of himself and his possessions because of his great faith in God and his gratitude for God’s blessing
Generous Giving
I want to take this opportunity to talk about giving. I hope you’re not thinking, “Here we go, the church is going to ask for all my money”. As Creator God already owns everything, we are just stewards or managers of some of it while we live here on His planet. So like the little boy, when God asks for a French fry we should be thankful and generous.
TITHING
The word tithe literally means “a tenth part.” Tithing means 10 percent. For Israel, however, tithing was really only a start. The tithe was never to be legalistic. Tithing was a principle to teach God’s people that every blessing comes from God and we should generously give to Him and others.
Even though tithing isn’t required today, it does not follow that believers should hoard their possessions. Since God is to be our treasure, believers are called to give generously and freely.
Generous Living
We also saw Abraham’s generosity in giving not only his possession but giving of himself.
Abraham showed sacrificial love by his actions not just in words as we didn’t hesitate to go rescue Lot. He went great distances and took on great risk to himself to show God’s love and compassion. We will talk more about this tonight and tomorrow at our Growth Groups.
Abraham’s great love for Lot moved him to extreme measures. God’s unconditional love for us moved Him to take extreme measures for us: He gave His Son Jesus Christ to be the sacrifice for our sins.
Is your love for others strong enough to take great risks and make sacrifices for them? That kind of love comes from God and can flow through our lives when we trust Him enough to step out in faith.
