Tuesday "The Nudge"

Greetings Internet Campus,

Today we are going to look at "The Nudge". You know all about the nudge. You've felt it. You've been parked at a corner and sensed that the person with the sign really needs your financial help. You've wanted to call and sponsor that child...only to wonder what else you could do with that $2.00 per day... We've all felt that pull toward giving...what should we do?

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (NLT2) 6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”

Today's verse looks at two responses to the nudge:

1) Give generously - I used to teach middle school. If you know a middle schooler or have one of your own...you know how they think sometimes. I would ask them to do an assignment and most of the time they would do just enough to be finished with the project. Did they have the intelligence and time to do a better project? Of course. They only lacked the motivation. What motivates you to give of your best? Today's passage is encouraging you to do just that...be motivated to give a lot of your best. It tells us to plant generously if we want a generous crop. Be careful here not to fall into the trap of "If I give than I get." That's not the way it works...we should give when we feel the nudge because we need to be obedient to God....not because He will bless us. Now, He may choose to bless our efforts by His grace and will. However, that should not be our motivation.

2) Give cheerfully - When I was a young boy, my mom would take me out to buy my brother's birthday present. Of course, I was 10 so I chose the gift that I really wanted...hoping that my brother would hate it and let me have it. I'd half-heartedly wrap it with some paper, slap my crayon signature on a card my mom picked out, and almost throw the gift at him at his birthday party. My mom would always stop me and make me hand it nicely to him...with a smile. She told me that it wasn't my birthday...that I didn't pay for the gift...and that the present was made even more special if the giver's attitude was right. I know now that that spirit of generosity with the right attitude still holds true today. If I am giving a gift, I need to do it with the right spirit...the right attitude...without expecting anything in return. My money is a gift to me during the week...I earn it with skills that were given to me by God...I use it to feed my family in a house that God has provided...

When you look at it that way...I am insulting God if I give to Him with anything less than a grateful and cheer-filled heart.

Today's verse challenges us to answer the nudge to give by giving generously and with the right spirit. I pray that this we work toward both.

Write it Down: Think about the last time you gave to God. What were you thinking about? What spirit filled you as you clicked the Online Giving button? Pray for help with today's topic

See you tomorrow!
Pastor Brian