The grace of giving

2 Corinthians 8:7 Therefore, as ye abound in every [thing, in] faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and [in] all diligence, and [in] your love to us, [see] that ye abound in this grace also.

There's such a thing called the grace of giving. Grace is the divine ability to do what you wouldn't normally do. 

It must be God to move the hearts of men to give even when they are in deep need themselves or are in much poverty like the Macedonian church. Such giving cannot make sense to the natural mind. The greatest mistake one can make is to stop giving because they are in dire need. On the other side of the spectrum, another mistake is to hoard resources when God has prospered you. 

Man from the very beginning is in a rat race to survive on this earth due to Adam's curse. So in order to get out of such a race, man wants to get all he can, can all of it and then sit on it so that he doesn't suffer need anymore. Survival mode now dominates most of man's decision making. Some will marry for money, move from country to country for money, some will strive with a brother to win the favour of the boss for money, some get new friends and leave old ones for some kind of benefit they can get from them, the list is endless. It's a pity when Christians also do some of those things. It means they are putting trust in the earthly system which revolves around sweat to provide for their needs. Unless they put faith in God to meet their needs, they will live like any other person in the world. 

We belong to another kingdom with its own economy. The kingdom economy is much greater than the economy of this world. Therefore as children of kings we ought to live differently and be affected differently by circumstances. In this kingdom there's no scarcity but abundance. It's common for kings in the natural to be generous because they are directly related to the people they serve. Our Father has abounded towards us with all things that pertain to life and godliness. Therefore we cannot afford to hold onto tightly what he has given us to steward over. In our spiritual nature we are givers by default, it's inherent in us. Whether we live up to it or not, the potential to give is there. God cannot ask us to do something like to abound in the grace of giving if He has not given us the ability to do so. 

God demonstrated such a concept in the old testament. He promised blessings to Abraham so that he may also be a blessing to others. Any believer ought to know that the reason God has prospered them is so that they can get their needs and also be a channel of blessings to others. Knowing this will make them open their bowels of compassion to those in need and also to the needs of their local church.  

What you sow is what you reap. If you sow financially into other people's lives you reap the same into your own life. You don't sow maize and reap mangoes, you reap maize in a greater measure. Likewise if you close yourself to other people's needs, you reap the same. Use the resources you have in your possession to abound in the giving grace.