II Corinthians 8:5 "And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God."
What to Give First
The other day, I heard a story about a father who took his young son to a fast-food restaurant and ordered the boy a large order of French fries. As they sat down to enjoy their time together, the dad reached over to grab a couple of fries that he had just purchased for his son. The son put his hand on the father's and said, "Those are mine!"
The ingratitude is shocking, isn't it? Don't you wonder how naïve a child can be to try to clutch onto a couple of fries when his dad is the only reason he had fries to begin with? In reality, the dad owned the fries and was steward of his son.
Often it is easy for children to forget who owns and provides what they have, but we have a Father in heaven Whom we can treat the same way! People often have this question: "How much of my money should I give God?" That is the wrong question! It is not how much of your money should you give God; it is how much of God's money should you keep for yourself.
The believers in II Corinthians 8 "first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us. . . ." Before they gave a penny, they gave themselves. A person who has given himself has nothing more to withhold. The reason we have a hard time giving money or time is because we haven't given ourselves.
A person who realized that they belong to the Lord Jesus will have no trouble being generous with what He has entrusted to him. A person who has given himself has nothing more to withhold and nothing greater to give.
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