You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us - in one stroke he became poor and we became rich. 2 Cor 8:9

In today's scripture, Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to be generous by reminding them of the never-ending generosity of Jesus who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we may know God's love and have eternal life.

Sometimes it seems hard for us to be generous to others with our time and gifts. There always seems to be so many demands for our time. The busyness and sometimes chaos of our lives selfishly consume our time, energy and focus; leaving us feeling we have little to give. The fear that grows out of these uncertain economic times keeps us from giving generously and abundantly because we're not sure when we might need that little extra cash for a rainy day.

Paul is reminding the Corinthians and us as well that Jesus made sure he was a generous giver. He did not let distractions, fear or selfishness prevent him from focusing on others - helping them find their way to God's house and eventually sacrificing his mortal life so that we can have life eternal. I believe Paul carefully chooses to refer to Jesus as our Master to stress that if the master over all that we are can be a generous giver, how can we accept anything less from ourselves.

Life won't get less demanding. The future won't get less uncertain. But when we feel those forces holding us back from being generous with our time and our gifts, we need to remember how Jesus did not let anything, not even Satan himself, stop him from being generous to each and every one of us and to thank Jesus for that, in both prayer and action.

~ Mike Goetting