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So I'm super excited to share with you something that I think could be the title of this message, and that is that God wants to save us from a small life.

I really believe that there's something in all of us that is a desire to him in our own little world and be in control of our life.

But I want us to read a few verses from Proverbs, Proverbs 11, 24 to 26, and then we're going to really focus on verse 24.

When I think of Proverbs and the overall wisdom from the book, I always go back to the idea that as it's foundation, it's all about the fear of God,

the submission to the surrender to the will of God, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

You know, these last weeks we've been talking a lot about thinking differently, living differently than the world, not gratifying the desires of the flesh, walking controlled by the spirit.

The fact that by the spirit inside us, we actually have the mind of Christ.

The verse I want to focus on, like I said, is Proverbs 11, 24, but I'm going to read these three verses and make one observation about verses 25 and 26, and then we'll dive into verse 24.

Here's what Scripture says.

One person gives freely, yet gains even more, another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

A generous person will prosper, whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. People curse the one who hordes grain, but they pray God's blessing on the one who is willing to sell.

You know, as you listen to that, and as we read it, it's amazing to me to think that verses 25 and 26 tell us that we will be refreshed as we help others, and that people will actually pray for us to be blessed as we help others.

Those things right there would be enough for me to think that we would all desire to be generous and be givers.

If those are benefits of giving, that I will be refreshed, and that people will actually pray for me to be blessed, why not be a giver?

Makes all the sense in the world. Don't you want to be refreshed? Don't you want people praying for you to be blessed?

But I want us to talk about verse 24.

I think there's another benefit to generosity. I think there's another benefit to being a giver.

And it's this notion that as we give our lives away, God makes our world larger. God makes our world bigger. God brings an excitement into and a joy into our world.

You can read verse 24 in a few different translations. I'm going to repeat the first one that I read. One person gives freely yet gains even more, another withholds unduly but comes to poverty.

Then there's a translation that reads this way. There's the one who generously scatters abroad, and yet increases all the more.

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