2 Corinthians 9:7, "So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver."

Think

"Love is a verb!" When you give someone a present, what is the reason behind it? Oh sure, we could rattle off answers like, "It's their birthday," or, "We always give each other presents at Christmas," or, "My wife would disown me if I didn't give her something on our anniversary!" But those are occasions, not reasons. The real reason behind any meaningful gift is one powerful four-letter word: LOVE. When we love someone, we want to show them. We can say it all day long. But until we actually step up and carry out that emotion with action, the words won't carry much weight. The same is true when it comes to our relationship with God. If you claim to love God, that's great. It's important to express it through words. But are you truly showing him the love? When you are generous toward God through the local church, you're not only telling God you love him, you are showing it!

Act

The phrases "God gives" or "God gave" appear nearly three dozen times throughout the Bible. It's just more evidence that love is carried out with action. One action step you can take today to show God you love him is to commit to building his house. Visit the InTense section of the APP to see how you can commit today!

Pray

God, I don't want to just say I love you; I want to show it! Help me to be faithful to you with my resources so that I can help you to build your church. Amen.