And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. (Hebrews 10.11-12 ESV)
This is where we begin. If we're going to talk about giving, if we're going to talk about sacrifice, we start with his. See, as followers of Jesus, our motivation for giving is different. We don't give to make ourselves feel better (or look better). We don't give because we have to, or even because "it's the right thing to do." We give because we recognize that ultimately everything we have is a gift. And the greatest example of this is Jesus' offering of himself for our sins.
Just a couple of verses after the text above, the writer of Hebrews stresses how incredible a gift this was when he says, "For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified" (Hebrews 10.14). That's a gift we could never have given ourselves. It's a gift we could never hope to pay back. And it's a gift that ought to make us grateful.
That's why we can't talk about our sacrifice until we've talked about his. If we start with us, we'll always be reluctant to give, wondering if the payoff will be worth the sacrifice. Or we'll grow bitter, wondering why more people aren't appreciating our efforts. Or we might even grow self-righteous, wondering why more people aren't giving as much as we are.
But if we start with Jesus' sacrifice for us, we have the opportunity to let gratitude be the driving force behind our giving. And while self-righteousness or guilt might create generous gifts from time to time, gratitude creates generous hearts, and this is what we're after.
Dear Father, we thank you for the generous gift of Jesus. Through his sacrifice, you did what we could not do for ourselves, and there is not enough time or money or resources in the world to ever pay you back. In your mercy, please fix our eyes on him, and let his offering lead us to ever-increasing gratitude for all we have in you. Amen.
- Drew Moss
Recognize & Respond
- What does God want you to focus on in order to grow in gratitude?
- How does he want your attitude and actions to reflect his truth?