2 Corinthians 9:6-8 

6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Paul reminds us that God not only longs to bless His kids but He loves it when givers delight in the giving. We are blessed to be a blessing. Our problem when it comes to desiring God’s blessings is our purpose behind the blessing. Many of us want to be blessed not to bless us but so that we can benefit. But the goal is not getting but giving. What about you, are you making it about giving or greed? While Paul is appealing to the Corinthian Christians for financial help the truth of the text applies to more than just money matters. The principles found in this passage deal more with character than cash. The focus is not on money but on ministry, and whether we will sow sparingly or sacrificially. Grace giving leads to a life of liberation, freeing us from things and circumstances. Instead of things possessing you, you start to possess them. Instead of money managing and moving your life it becomes a means for ministry. Instead of cash controlling you, and dictating your attitude and actions, you begin to control it. Financial freedom doesn’t come through getting more it comes through giving back. Today we are being taught that financial freedom comes from acquiring and amassing, that the more we have the freer we will be. Yet often more money means more managing, more possessions means more time polishing and protecting. Instead of being freed to enjoy life we become chained to our cash and slaves to the stuff. Today there are many who play the power ball hoping to become wealth because they believe that financial security will bring freedom, but statistics suggest that those who win often end up far from freed. Money becomes their master, and many end up miserable instead of merry. Money has many of the attributed of a god, power, the ability to fix problems, and provide but unlike God riches don’t provide a real relationship. The real craving of our hearts is not more but meaning, we want meaningful relationships not riches. But when we chase after the cash we end up worshipping wealth, our focus become finance not God the Father. But true satisfaction is found in God not gain. Not only does God’s grace lead to a life of liberation but it also enables us to have all-sufficiency so we can abound in giving. God is able to give us complete sufficiency so that we serve, and service is the secret to satisfaction. Today we are trying to find satisfaction in security instead of in service. As a result instead of helping out we tend to hoard. But Paul reminds us of where our resources really come from as he reminds us of the:  

• Ability of the Almighty

One way God’s approval of the grateful giver finds expression is in the provision of both physical and spiritual prosperity. Do you give cheerfully or out of compulsion, are you a grateful giver or a grumpy giver? When we are stingy we start serving sparingly. Maybe it was the uncertainty of life in the ancient world that caused the Corinthians to become concern about their cash. But God doesn’t want the uncertainties of life to be a reason to withhold our resources. The Almighty is able to provide everything that we need and when we lose sight of this truth we will turn to trusting in self instead of the Savior.  “God is able” is the consistent promise of Scripture: Romans 16:25 “Now all glory to God, who is able to make you strong.” Ephesians 3:20 “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Jude 24 “Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.” He is able is a promise that we need to pay attention to so that we will place our confidence in Him. As disciples we are dependent on the promise that God is able and we especially need to remember this because we are called to walk by faith not by sight. Are you trusting in your provision or in God’s power, providence and promises? The might and power of God is capable of taking care of you. God is able to give “all grace, all-sufficiency, for all things, for every good work.” Yet even with these staggering statements we don’t get the full picture of God’s provision without the word abounds. Abounds knows no limits, it describes God’s jam-packed overflowing fountain of provision and both the greatness and the goodness of His grace. The King James says “God is able to make all grace abound toward you.”Grace here is used to sum up the bigness of God’s blessings which come to us through Christ. The primary use of Grace in the New Testament reveals the unconditioned, undeserved, providing, pardoning love of God. All grace comes from one act of grace that comes through Christs work on the cross. Grace is like a diamond which has many facets, so that as you turn it more of its beauty and blessing is revealed. Grace is also like the gift of life which produces many results. Life gives shine in the eyes, color in the cheeks, strength to the arm, and swiftness to the feet.  There are many sides to Grace, many manifested blessings but its source is Jesus Christ. The manifestation of grace giving is no different; being a blessing can be revealed in a variety of ways. The point is God’s gift of grace should change our lives from consumers to contributors. God not only gives all grace but gives it abundantly, He does not give it sparingly. God opens His whole hand not just His little finger. But notice that it says, God is able to make, not God will make. The responsibility for the overflowing is placed personally upon us, there are conditions we must meet. Although we have access to the full fountain of His blessing it will not pour on us unless we position our lives according to His promise. Unless we walk according to His Will we will not access God’s ability to give. So what opens the hand of God to bestow blessing? When we seek to sow, as we graciously give God opens the doors of heaven, if you want to be blessed don’t begrudge, sow with a smile not a scowl. The possibilities and provisions of God’s grace are up to individual Churches and Christians to receive. God is not stating that He will make every giving Christian wealthy in material things but it does mean that the Christian who practices “grace giving” will always have more than they needs when they needs it. Are you going to distribute God’s blessings or try to dam them up? 

Ephesians 5:21-29

21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. 24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. 25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. 28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. 29 No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.

After revealing the wife’s role Paul now points out the role and responsibilities of the husband. Now if a wife’s role is to reflect the submission of the church to Christ, then what you would expect Paul to reason as a husband’s responsibility would be to manifest the headship of Jesus Christ over His church, and thus become the spiritual leaders of their wife. If the wife is commanded to submit, then logically the husbands must be instructed to lead. But they are not, you see instead of commanding husbands to lead their wives, Paul actually instructs us to love our wives. Only when we love our spouse can we provide servant leadership in our marriage, because leadership without love always leads to lording. Paul’s main point to love is obvious because he repeats the command for husbands to love their wives three times, in verses 25, 28, and 33. But what does it mean to love our wife? It’s here that the passage provides two models to help husbands learn to love their wives, each of which is introduced by the word “as” in verses 25 and 28.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her” (25) 

“In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies” (28)

This is a love that acts for the best good and promotes the well-being of the other person, demanding nothing in return. There is possibly no other word in the English language that needs more explanation than the word love. Because we use it to describe everything from our love for people to our love for pizza. But it’s here that Paul points to Christ as our example, you see we are to love our wives in the same way that Christ loves the church. This is a call to sacrificial service, because Paul does not merely say, “Love your wives as Christ loved the church,” but he goes on to describe what that love looks like: “…and gave Himself up for her.” As a husband we are not to give in, we are to give up. That means that a husband needs to give himself up for his wife, willingly, sacrificially and purposely. So let me ask you husbands, when was the last time you sacrificed something for your wife? When did you give up? Christ gave up his life for the church and I believe if a criminal broke down your door in the dead of night you would willingly give up your life for your wife. So why is it that we would give up our lives for our wives but we struggle to serve in the small things? Because we let self get in the way of service, instead of Christ being our model we follow the culture and seek to serve self. Sacrifice speaks the language of love because sacrifice says you are important and you are worth it. When was the last time you put your wife ahead of your wants? A husbands goal should be godliness and it’s here that Paul tells us to put our energy into helping our spouse pursue holiness. 5:26-27: “To make her holy, cleansing her by the washing of water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” God has called us as husbands to love and to lay down our lives so that our wives are directed toward godly living. One of our key roles is to help our wives reach maturity in Christ, by building them up every chance we get. This requires that we relating to our spouse spiritually. Many men spend time pursue their wives sexually but never spiritually. They let their relationship revolve around their wants more than God’s Will. Serving your wife means seeking to grow spiritual which means opening yourself up to them spiritually, which is a challenge for most men. Because this requires that we become vulnerable. But as we grow closer to Christ we come closer to connecting with each other. Men are you pursuing your wife in prayer, are you seeking opportunities to connect spiritual so that your spouse can be successful? Lastly Christ calls us to care for our wives 5:29: “After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church.” Not only are we called to provide a positive spiritual environment but to care for our wives physically and emotionally as well. Just as with the wife’s responsibilities, what we are called to cannot be accomplished in our strength. Just as wives need to be filled and energized by the Holy Spirit, so too we need His power and strength in order to carry out our responsibilities. The last verse in the passage gives a great summary of the entire passage: “However, each one of you also must love his wife, as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” We need to notice that both husbands and wives are to work at fulfilling their responsibilities regardless of how their spouse responds. Obedience here is based on the Messiah not on your spouse’s merits. What the culture calls us to do is to base our response on our spouse, on whether or not they deserve. Now while that may feel right we need to remember that if we do we will be placing conditions on love instead of practicing Christ’s love. Many of us are limiting love in our marriages because instead of being obedient to the call of Christ we are caving to the culture. Instead of scripture being our standard we are letting society set the bar. What we end up with is worldly thinking that says, “When he starts loving me, then I’ll submit to him.” Or, “When she starts submitting to me, I’ll begin loving her.” That kind of thinking leads to a performance based relationship instead where we end up putting our energy into trying to measure up and keeping score instead of reinforcing God’s security and significance. The truth is your response is your responsibility, you need to live out your relational responsibility regardless of how you feel or how your spouse is fulfilling their role. If it’s true that a man’s primary need is for significance, and this need is met ultimately through a growing relationship with Christ, God will use the wife’s submission to reinforce a man’s significance. And, if it’s true that a woman’s primary need is for security, and God meets this need through a relationship with Himself, God will also uses a husband’s love to reinforce a wife’s security. Are you seeking to live out Christ’s commands or are you flowing your feelings and limiting God’s love?