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Do You Excel at the Grace of Giving?

Discover What Paul Might Mean by This Curious Phrase

There is a curious phrase in the Bible: “grace of giving.” It occurs only in Paul’s second letter to his friends at the church in Corinth.

Without it appearing elsewhere in the Bible, there are no other verses we can use to grasp a better understanding of this curious phrase.

Not Begrudgingly

In considering it, the grace of giving could imply we are to give graciously. The opposite is to give begrudgingly, and that’s not good. A gift given resentfully is hardly a gift at all. Gracious giving is the goal.

Generosity

Alternately, grace of giving could suggest generosity. We give what others need and then give more. Or we give what we can and then make sacrifices to give more.

We give “above and beyond” expectations. This, too, may be the grace of giving.

Offer Grace

While there is value in both these considerations, I think there is an even better one. God gives his grace to us; we should give a bit of that grace to others.

This could be money. Or it could be kindness, tolerance, acceptance, or any number of the amazing gifts God has given us, his undeserving followers.

The Grace of Giving

Regardless of how we understand the phrase grace of giving and what it precisely means, the key is to give.

We are to give to others.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is 2 Corinthians 7-9 and today’s post is on 2 Corinthians 8:7.]

Read more in Peter’s book, Love is Patient (book 7 in the Dear Theophilus series).

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.