CHANCELLOR’S UPDATE
Dr. Mark Ballard, President
At NEBC students are busy preparing for the end of the semester. They are writing papers, preparing for presentations, and preparing for Final Exams. As a student, the word, exam could immediately raise my stress level. When I became a professor, I wanted my exams to be more than a stressful test, but I wanted them to be learning experiences. Soon that concept became part of my approach to all assignments in my class. The tests, quizzes, and other assignments indeed reveal how one is doing in a subject, but if the right approach is taken, the assignments actually become learning experiences as well.
Today, I want to invite you to join me in taking a simple quiz that could be a significant learning experience. This quiz is a short, simple, True/False Quiz that can provide both an assessment of how you are doing and a learning opportunity that could impact you for life. Here is the quiz:
Throughout December these emails are focusing on how we can move from stressful giving to joyful giving. We learned that Paul shares thirteen key principles to help us with this transformation. So far, we have considered the first four Baker’s Dozen Principles.
- 1. You can experience the joy of giving, even if you live in poverty.
- 2. You can experience the joy of giving, by giving of your own free will.
- 3. You can experience the joy of giving, by giving in fellowship with other believers.
- 4. You can experience the joy of giving, by giving yourself first to the Lord.
Today, we pause to focus our attention on principle number five. Let’s take a closer look at 2 Corinthians 8:5.
“And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.” (2 Corinthians 8:5)
Last week we learned that the greatest gift we can give is to first give ourselves to the Lord. As the Macedonians first gave themselves to the Lord in complete surrender, He directed the rest of their giving in accordance with His will. This principle helped them move from giving stress to giving joy. Once we have given ourselves to the Lord in complete surrender, we are ready for principle number five. You can experience the joy of giving by giving yourself to the receiver of the gift.
Notice how Paul worded his testimony about the Macedonian giving. Having given themselves to the Lord in complete surrender, “then (they gave themselves) to us by the will of God.” Before we ever consider the nature or amount of a gift, we should give ourselves to the ministry or individual. When we give ourselves first to the Lord, He leads us to give ourselves to His work and to other people. As we give ourselves, all of the sudden the gift becomes far more valuable than simply the monetary value of the gift.
Additionally, since we gave ourselves first to the Lord and then to His work or to another person, we know that we are doing so at His leading. We also know that since we have given ourselves to Him and at His leading to His work and to other people, we can trust that He will guide us as to where and when to give our time, our talents, and our earthly treasures. At this point, we no longer have to stress over giving. Rather, we simply obey the Lord, giving to those ministries and individuals He leads us to give and giving what He leads us to give. This can alleviate worry and stress over our giving.
Since adopting this method of giving, my personal approach to giving has been radically transformed. Before, I worried about all the people and ministries I wanted to give to and how little I had to give to each one. Now, I make sure I give myself daily to the Lord in surrender. Then, as He leads, I give myself to various ministries and individuals. Once I have taken this step, now I simply give the amount of time to the ministry and/or person that God leads me to give. I offer my talents to the ministry and/or person as the Father leads. I give the dollar amount to the ministry and/or individual that the Lord leads me to give.
Oh, what if the Lord leads me to give a dollar amount that requires sacrifice, or maybe like the Macedonians, is “beyond my ability”? Even that circumstance no longer causes stress. Why? Because I know if the Lord has put an amount on my heart to give and I don’t have that amount, I can ask Him to provide the amount He has led me to give and then watch Him do it. (See my comments in the Principle #4 email.)
This approach has not only alleviated my stress, but it also enabled me to experience the joy of giving my time, my talents, and earthly treasures. I have truly begun to experience the truth that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”