Loving Large Week 3: Loving Is Giving Key Verse For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21 (NIV) Summary Saint Augustine said, “[God,] You made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” We’ve been talking about living in a broken world. Part of that brokenness comes from trying to find satisfaction from all the world offers when our hearts are made for God. Where we place our treasure (not only our money, but time and energy as well) tells us a lot about the condition of our hearts. Christ-centered hearts find that loving is giving. Session Goals See the connection between loving and giving. Love will cause you to give of yourself in ways that you never have before; Consider where we give of our time, money, and energy? Jesus says the more you give these things away, the more you find; What does it mean to have a Christ-centered heart? When we experience God’s love, we will find the desire to do some things that seemed unlikely. Discussion Starter Have you heard people say that churches only talk about money? What’s your response to that? Read & Discuss Acts 20:32-37 When have you experienced that it is more blessed to give rather than to receive? Matthew 16:24-27 What do you think it means to lose your life for Jesus? Can you think of examples in our broken world and popular culture where you have seen people “gain the whole world, but forfeit their soul?” Psalm 24 If we approach time, energy, and wealth as if it belongs to God anyway—how does that change our outlook on these things and how we acquire or use them? How does this psalm remind us of who God is and who we are in relation to God? Excerpt from Daily Readings For more discussion time, lift up one portion of the week’s reading for more conversation. From Day 5: Matthew 16:25 All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will find them. A paradox is a statement that at first seems contradictory or against common sense and yet holds great truth. Jesus was big on paradoxes. We looked yesterday at one paradox from Acts where Jesus is quoted as saying “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” At first glance, we say “Huh? Surely it is more blessed to receive than to give something away?” Jesus urges us to look again, and we realize that there is indeed more blessing in giving than receiving. Here in Matthew 16, Jesus throws another paradox our way. He proposes that if we want to save our lives, we will first have to lose our life. Huh? Surely, I read that wrong. Look again: “All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will find them.” If we want to find life, we will give up our lives for Jesus. So, what does it mean to lose your life because of Jesus? It means that we would be willing to love large, to love with everything we’ve got, to love God first and foremost and be willing to love our neighbors like we love ourselves. When you love God with all your heart, mind, and strength, you give up your life. When you love your neighbor as you love yourself, you lose a lot. And in losing, you find so much more. You actually find life in giving up your life for God and others. There are many ways to lose your life. The loss that Jesus is proposing is much different than losing yourself in co-dependence or chemical dependence. It is much different from losing your life to a job that demands your soul and every minute of your day. Jesus is saying lose your life by giving it to me and by giving it for others. When you love like that, you find life. How have you experienced loss that has actually been gain for you? Closing Prayer O God, my heart often feels divided. My desire today is for my heart to be centered on you. Guide me today toward a life that is more focused on loving you and loving people. My treasure is in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 02:38:38 +0000
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