Does your wallet evidence grace?
Martin Luther said that there are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, mind and purse. Of these three the conversion of the purse is the most difficult. When people get saved, their hearts get saved but when it comes to their money…
The Apostle Paul would probably agree! In this passage we see that the evidence of grace, even in severe affliction and extreme poverty, positively impacts a number of things:
- Faith
- Speech
- Knowledge
- Earnestness
Paul wants the Corinthians to emulate the Macedonians by evidencing the grace operating in their hearts with the grace of giving. For Paul the genuineness of our love for God is proven by our generosity. That’s a challenge. We can do it because of the grace that is operating in our hearts and because Jesus modelled it. Christ who was rich, became poor so we can become rich.
Paul finishes off by showing this generosity in terms of churches helping each other out – the one in abundance helping the one in poverty and then vice-versa. Over the years we have been helped so much by our mother church, The Bridge Church, including recently; and we have been able to help them once.
Let’s abound in evidencing the grace of God by our extravagant generosity.
Andy Moyle
