"Me, My Four, and No More!"

2nd Corinthians 8.3-4 NASU

“…according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints”

I am here to give. I must give. I receive that I may give. Nothing I have is my own. I am blessed to be a blessing.

How do people “give beyond their ability”? I understand how the generous give “according to their ability,” but how do they give more than they have? Brian Buffini credits his mother with this saying: “Give it out in slices and it’ll come back in loaves.” One must give to get to give to get to give.... If this repeating cycle of generosity works, then I cannot afford not to give. If I want more, I must first give more. It’s not a formula to apply. It’s a principle to live by. 

I do want more. I want larger faith to overcome limited-capacity thinking. I want to stop living with a scarcity mentality and restricting my vision to “me, my four, and no more!” I want the courage to open the door of my ark to drowning people, even when the flood waters of fear rise menacingly before me. I want learn how to be more concerned for others than myself.

I want to stretch my heart to see more, embrace more, share more, and be more. I want to depend on Jesus and live and give “to my ability, and beyond my ability.” I want to live out the words of Isaiah: 

“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you

will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will

dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.”
Isaiah 54.1-3 NIV