Pray the word with David Platt is a resource from radical.net.

Second Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9.

Says you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ

that though he was rich yet for your sake he became

poor so that you by his poverty might become rich. This verse comes in the middle of a couple of chapters where Paul is

encouraging the church at Corinth to give generously and

sacrifices, specifically for the support of the church in Jerusalem in the middle of

famine because they were struggling and Paul was taking up an offering among many different churches to take to them.

And right in the middle of this exhortation to give, he gives us this picture of what we celebrated Christmas, how Jesus though rich, think Philippians too being in very nature, God,

for your sake became poor, he humbled himself and became a man so that you, by his poverty,

by his humbling himself, giving of himself laying down his life, you by his poverty might then become rich.

You might become children of God with all the riches that means and inheritance that means and in

in this way Paul is encouraging the church to give.

So I want to pray accordingly that God would give us the spirit of Christ in our giving.

And not just giving.

So yes, that's part of what we celebrate and giving gifts around Christmas is blessing others in different ways.

And that's good, that's the overflow of Christ in us.

I think though we might miss the point particularly in this passage

as an offering is being taken up for a church and famine.

If we just take this and we say, yes, we give it Christmas, we give to a bunch of people

that already have, for the most part, far more than they need and really probably even more

than they want. Let's make sure at some point to turn our eyes to brothers and sisters in famine in need.

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