A Season of Giving: Introduction

Advent is observed all over the world. This special time of year is a season of anticipation, waiting and preparation, culminating with the birth of Jesus.

Whether the celebration begins on the fourth Sunday before December 25th or on the first of December, this is a time that has traditionally marked a season of giving.

Working through the following devotional readings is one way to embrace this often hectic time with thoughtful, deliberate insight into the theme of giving. Twenty-five days of devotions, scriptures, and journaling focus your attention and your heart, expanding and deepening your faith. Most practice some type of giving throughout the year, reflecting God’s love and becoming more Christ-like. However, during this time when it can be easy to focus on presents and parties, it is an opportunity to be deliberate in your giving, be prayerful about your giving and most importantly, be Christ-like in your giving.

Sometime during the day, lay the particular type of giving before the Lord and ask for strength, guidance, and grace. Read the scriptures and brief devotional and commit your ways unto the Lord. Then at the end of your day, prayerfully review and if you are so inclined, record your thoughts in a journal. What opportunities sprung up before you? How did it feel to be deliberate in your giving? Was it awkward? How did you feel when you gave? This is not a time of condemnation, but of growth. It is not in our own strength that we give, but in the strength of God. It is He who gives us the grace to leave our comfort zones and reach out to a lonely, hurting world.

Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (New American Standard) 2Co 9:7

A simple scan of the dictionary shows the many sides to the word “give”: to make a present of; to entrust to or place in the hands of; to grant; to produce; to provide; to relinquish; to surrender; to make room for. It is this dimensional aspect that yields a treasure of insight into spiritual giving.

Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won't lose out on a thing. Mt 10:42

As children, one of the first lessons we had to learn was how to share with others. Mine! Anyone who’s ever been around a two-year-old knows that giving does not come naturally. The thought of giving away something that was rightfully ours seemed somehow to go against everything we felt. Share? Give? And it’s not just toddlers who struggle with this concept. You see, when you give someone something, it means that you no longer have it. This can create a sense of vulnerability that is at best uncomfortable.

What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. Lu 12:29

I started wondering where this universal inner resistance came from. Think about it. What is the first recorded act of giving between humans in the Bible? It occurs in the garden right after Eve is deceived by the serpent. After Eve eats of the forbidden fruit, she gives it to Adam. Well, we all know what happened next. Didn’t work out too well, did it? Sin entered the world and everything was tainted. Now I’m sure that Adam and Eve gave things to each other before this. But in this fallen environment, the very act of giving that was once surrounded with sinless perfection, along with every other aspect of human interaction, carried the weight and consequence into humanity.

Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah! The Death-Dealing Sin, the Life-Giving Gift. Ro 5:11

Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back--given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. Lu 6:38

But through the sacrifice of Jesus, we have been set free and delivered from the chains of the past – not only our past, but from the bondage set in motion in the garden. We are no longer compelled to live under the limitations of what comes “naturally.”

This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives. 2Co 8:5

The same Jesus that gave himself for all mankind is the same Jesus who transforms our hearts and minds, who grows us and deepens us.
So even though giving in the natural can, at times, be difficult and seem to “go against the grain” of our personalities, we can reach out in freedom, drawing strength and purpose from God’s almighty strength and God’s eternal purpose.

If your life honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you. Grace is behind and through all of this, our God giving himself freely, the Master, Jesus Christ, giving himself freely. 2Th 1:12

Giving is the spontaneous response to the Spirit of the living God dwelling in our hearts, pouring out His grace, mercy, and love through our hands, our words, and our actions.

All scriptures are from The Message unless otherwise noted.