Are Your Blessings Just For You?

Are the good things God gives you meant to stop with you? No. God blesses you so the blessing can keep moving to the people around you. It flows through your gifts, your time, and your resources. You aren't meant to be a reservoir that collects and keeps. You're meant to be a river.

What does it mean that God is generous?

It means God always gives more than enough. Generosity is overflow: giving more than expected, never the bare minimum.

On Beyond Sunday, Karen Carter, Calvary's Next Steps director, pointed to two promises that show God's character:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

John 10:10

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.

Ephesians 3:20

Jesus described the same kind of giving: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. God isn't a God of just enough to get by.

Your own capacity to be generous comes from Him, too. People are made in God's image. Sin has marred that image, but the fact that any of us can give freely points back to our Maker.

Does giving leave you empty?

No. Scripture promises the opposite: when you refresh others, God refreshes you.

A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

Proverbs 11:25

The idea behind "refreshed" is overflow. The picture is of being drenched. Culture says you work, you receive, you keep, and maybe you hoard. A guest speaker from Convoy of Hope brought the weekend message and put it another way. We aren't made to be reservoirs that collect and keep. We are made to be rivers, with God's goodness flowing through us.

Pastor Sean Sloan connected that to a promise of Jesus. Rivers of living water would flow from within those who believe in Him (John 7:38). In the ancient world, things grew where rivers ran and didn't grow where they didn't. Out of God's goodness to you, you become good to others.

What does "blessed to be a blessing" mean?

It means God blesses His people so that others are blessed through them. The idea goes all the way back to Abraham.

"I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

Genesis 12:2 to 3

Notice that God simply announced what He would do. He chose to bless the world through one man's family, and He is still blessing the world through His people today.

Are your spiritual gifts only for you?

Your gifts are unique to you, but they aren't only for you. That line from the weekend message is the heart of this conversation.

Spiritual gifts are abilities the Holy Spirit gives believers to build up others. They include a word of wisdom, teaching, serving, encouraging, or healing. When God gave gifts to the church, He gave people. For example, He might confirm something from your Bible reading through someone else's word of wisdom. You might go up for prayer and be healed through a believer He has gifted. That is why being part of a local church matters: you experience God through each other.

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Romans 12:6 to 8

A gift that isn't used is a blessing withheld. You don't receive a gift just to feel fulfilled. The gift is fulfilled when you share it. And the more flows out, the more can flow in.

How do you become a generous person, not just someone who gives?

Let generosity come from who you are, not only from what you do. You can do kind things out of obligation. You can say "I forgive you" without feeling it. God's generosity flows out of His character.

Pastor Sean and Karen put it simply: people can give without being generous at heart. The goal is to become generous in being, not only in action. Then whatever you do comes from God's character growing in you.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.

Colossians 3:23

Church is where that grows. On the weekend you're strengthened and equipped, and your gifts get honed. But the blessing is meant to flow beyond the room, into your neighborhood, your workplace, and your city. Calvary's partnership with Convoy of Hope is one picture of that river in action. Convoy serves the poor, responds to disasters, and helps families and farmers around the world.

Common questions

What does "blessed to be a blessing" mean?

It comes from God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 that all peoples on earth would be blessed through him. God blesses His people so the blessing can flow through them to others.

What does Proverbs 11:25 mean?

It says whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Generosity doesn't drain you. As you pour out, God keeps filling you, often more than you expected.

Are spiritual gifts just for me?

No. Your gifts are unique to you, but they are given for the good of others and the church. A gift that isn't used is a blessing withheld.

How do I find my spiritual gifts?

Get involved in a local church, serve, and ask mature believers what they see in you. At Calvary, Growth Track is a one-time, 90-minute class where you take a spiritual gifts assessment and a personality assessment, and we help you find a place to serve that fits how God made you. It meets in person on the second and fourth Sundays of the month, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in Room 126 (near Door 29). Register for Growth Track to save your spot.