Give to Encourage God’s Family
By Rick Warren
“Love one another with mutual affection.” Romans 12:10 (NRSV)
God wants you to learn to love him and invest in the lives of other people. When you give your money to God, it draws you closer to him. Then he wants you to learn to love and invest in his family. This is what I call the “Mutual Fund.”
The Bible says in Romans 12:10, “Love one another with mutual affection” (NRSV).
How do you invest in the Mutual Fund? By using some of your money to encourage fellowship, build relationships, and demonstrate love.
Why should you give to encourage fellowship? The Bible says, “This service you do not only helps the needs of God’s people, it also brings many more thanks to God. It is a proof of your faith. Many people will praise God because you obey the Good News of Christ—the gospel you say you believe—and because you freely share with them and with all others” (2 Corinthians 9:12-13 NCV).
How can your money build relationships in God’s family? Any time you give your money to someone, it draws you closer to that person. So when you invest financially in fellow believers, you grow closer to them. Any time you take a meal to somebody who’s sick, you’ve just invested in the Mutual Fund. When you contribute to a teen raising money for a school trip, you invest in the Mutual Fund. When you take a discouraged believer to lunch and offer a listening ear, you again have invested in the Mutual Fund.
Your money can also demonstrate love. You show love for God when you tithe to your church. But you can also give financially to other people. When you do, it’s an act of love—it’s like banking it in heaven. Any time you use your funds to show love to somebody else in the family of God, you’re investing in the Mutual Fund.
Remember, you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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