SCRIPTURE:
“Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.”
2 Corinthians 12:14
OBSERVATION:
Paul writes to let them know that he is ready to return for a third time. He wants to make it clear that he is not expecting anything from them. He tells them plainly that it’s not their possessions he is after, but they themselves. As children should not have to provide for their parents, but rather parents should provide for their children.
APPLICATION:
As a new believer, I had a very hard time understanding God’s unconditional love. As the topics of tithing and serving would come up, I’d often feel like God wanted my resources, finances and time. My warped thinking would lead me to believe that God wanted something from me in order for me to be loved, to be worthy and to be accepted.
Though I knew I didn’t have to do anything, I would still feel like this – If I did something good, then I would be loved and blessed and if I did something wrong and sinned, then I would be singled out and punished.
When I began serving, someone said something to me that turned my thinking upside down. He said “If you’re serving with an expectation of getting something in return, then you aren’t really serving. What you’re doing is called trading.”
Ouch.
As I worked through my healing and began to truly understand the transformative love of God, it changed the way I did everything. I realized Christ wanted me, a relationship with me, above all else and not what I had to give. The only reason He would shine a spotlight on my time, talent and treasure was so He could reveal the true condition of my heart. And could show me the areas I still needed to work on when it came to my relationship with Him.
While I can get busy in serving, giving and doing, I must remember this – God doesn’t want what I have, He just wants me.
PRAYER:
Father Almighty. Forgive me Lord for times when I have forgotten and thought giving more and doing more would result in more blessings. Thank You Lord that You love me, just for being me. May I always remember that Your love for me is unconditional, this I pray, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
