What are some of the results of giving gifts?

2 Corinthians 9:11-14Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God. As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you.

Giving gifts to God glorifies him. It enriches our lives and the lives of others because we will both experience God’s generosity and be fulfilled by God’s blessings. People will thank God and honor him as their needs are met—then be encouraged to continue the cycle of giving.

2 Corinthians 9:10God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

1 Peter 4:10God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.

Both the giver and the receiver experience God’s generosity.

Isaiah 50:4The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will.

2 Corinthians 9:2I [Paul] know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to the churches in Macedonia that you in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many of the Macedonian believers to begin giving.

Others are encouraged and comforted by our giving.

1 Corinthians 12:7A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.

The entire church is helped when we use the spiritual gift God has given to us.

Proverbs 3:9-10Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.

Ecclesiastes 11:1Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you.

Malachi 3:10“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!”

Luke 6:38“Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

2 Corinthians 9:6-7Remember 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. 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.”

Giving perpetuates the giving cycle. As God has given abundantly to us, so we give abundantly to him and others. Not only does this stir others to give, blessing even more people, but God promises that he will bless us in return for our generosity.

Proverbs 28:27Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed.

Matthew 10:42“If you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.”

Acts 20:35“And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

A giver receives God’s blessing. Giving does not drain us; it fills us.