Day 5 | Giving Out of Love | 1 Corinthians 13:3

If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

The Bible commands us to give out of what has been given to us, if we have 2 dollars, we give 20 cents, if we have 20 dollars, we give 2, and if we have 2000 dollars, we give 200 dollars. But, why does it seem like every time we give, we either give the bare minimum of what God commands, or we don’t give at all?

All of our life we have heard that giving is good, but still we often find it hard to give away our money or possessions, unless we are rewarded. Giving should not be something we do because we get something in return, or because we will look good, or even because we are told to (whether that be by our parents, our school, or even the Bible).

The truth is, Jesus doesn’t want us to give if it is not out of love for Him and for the people we are giving to. We should give because he has already given us everything when Jesus died on the cross out of love for us. We should give generously of all we have, because Jesus gave his entire life for us.

The importance of love can be seen through what Jesus has done for us, and he loves the heart of the person who gives generously out of love and thankfulness, not simply him who gives the most out of their pockets.

Questions:

• As a class, how can we continue to give out of a place of love?
• These passages keep our eyes focused on one thing, Jesus! How have you seen Jesus move in your life this week?

PROJECT GRACE GIVING TOTAL TO DATE: $2,675.60

There are some friendly competitive giving incentives. One was having ice cream and toppings served in the winning classroom. Mr. Vredevoogd’s 2nd hour 8th grade Bible class won.