BIBLICAL BASIS
You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. -2 Corinthians 9:11
Probably no verse has been more misinterpreted and misused. If you want to accumulate material possessions, some say, then sow your seed and it will grow and multiply one hundredfold.
What did Paul mean? It may be he wasn't speaking of material possessions at all but rather of spiritual riches. But probably Paul had both in mind. If he were not speaking of material possessions, how could he say the Corinthians would be able to "be generous on every occasion"? Furthermore, his agricultural analogy (2 Corinthians 9:10) implies that he was talking about material blessings as a result of being generous with their material gifts.
It seems, then, that Paul was teaching that if the Corinthians were generous, based on their own resources, God would provide them with material blessings so they could continue to invest in the kingdom of God and see people come to Christ and grow in Christ. In this sense, they would be enlarging the harvest of their righteousness. The focus, then, is not on what they would receive but on what they could give in order to do God's work in the world.
Paul was also speaking of being rich in grace, meaning that because of God's gift of grace, the Corinthian believers would be able to be generous no matter what their economic situation. They would he Mile to respond like the Macedonians, who gave in spite of poverty, which in God's sight was generous. This leads us to another principle.
Supracultural Principle 61
CONTINUED GENEROSITY
When we're generous, God will enable us to continue being generous.
One of the promises God gives us is, when we're faithful in helping others, our own needs will be met and we'll be able to continue helping others. The emphasis in Scripture is not on the amount we give or receive but simply on giving from what we have-whether little or much.
Extracted from Dr Gene Getz’s Rich in Every Way
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