A Saturday Series during December
by Melanie Mentzer
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
As I started to think about what I wanted to talk to you guys about giving, I started to think, “what really is giving?” When I think about giving, I think of the obvious, giving things to others, giving my time, money etc. But I forget to think about where it initially started, Jesus.
We all know the above verse, most of us have it memorized. It’s one of the most famous bible verses. You’re probably thinking, “Why are we talking about this?” Well like I said, when it all comes down to it, it started with Jesus. “For God so loved the world that he GAVE his only begotten son…” I don’t know about you guys, but every time I read this verse, it just makes me appreciate what God has done for us. That God would sacrifice His son, and Jesus suffered for our sins and drank the cup of God’s wrath. Abraham was another great example of this. He was about to sacrifice, and give God his only son, who he waited years for, because he knew all what God had done for him. To me this it true giving. Obviously I’m not saying we all need to do what Jesus did and lay down our lives at the cross, but we do need to realize what giving is all about. God has done SO much for us, and without Him we wouldn’t be here today. The source of everything we have comes from Him, so giving to others is little into comparison for what He’s done.
Application:
What do you think of when you hear the word, “giving”?
How does this verse apply?
Study the Scriptures with Ben Jennings 
Yea Melanie!!! 🙂 she did the devos today awesome! 🙂 good job girl!! :). Okay what I think of when I hear the word giving is family. You give a speical gift to your family it could be store bought or made I know that your family will love it, I also thank of god because he loved the world so much that he let hes only sOn die on the cross to pay for our sins that he has given us so much. I always think of giving to the need because every Saturday me and my mom would go to this homeless shelter and bring food and we would bring and serve to them and I sometimes was in the kitchen helping or eating too haha! Or playing with the little kids. That’s what I think of when I hear te word giving. Since God sent his only begotten son to die on the gross for our sins, he forgave all of our sins and we should forgive people too because god forgave you for all the sins you have done.
Good job Melanie!! you did great!!! 🙂 when i think of the word GIVING it really makes me think.the first thing to come to my mind is that verse.its a great verse because not only does it say he loves us but he GAVE his only begotten son.wothout Jesus we wouldn’t be here.also what this makes me think of is its better to GIVE than to recieve.GIVING to someone i don’t know about you,makes me happy.just GIVING somebody something makes me think of what Jesus did for us.Its amazing!!! 🙂 Mafalda,that is sooo great what you and your mom do on saturdays!! 🙂 thats a great way of GIVING!!!! sorry i wasn’t on the past two days 😦 i was pretty busy can’t wait till Feliz navidad tonight!!!! 🙂 seeu guys there!!
We don’t do it anymore because my moms work got in the way of it!
Now that I have a child I can imagine what kind of pain it must have been to have God’s only Son die for God’s enemies. I love a lot of people but I don’t think I’d let my daughter die for those I love… I wouldn’t even think about giving her life for those who might be my enemies. I guess it’s a good thing that God hasn’t asked me to do what Abraham was supposed to do. I would royally fail. But God has asked me to give in ways that He has given me talents, funds and abilities.
Each of us have the same amount of time in a day to call our own and I know I am selfish much of the time. I want to do what I want to do and don’t want to be stretched sometimes. I can say that almost everytime (cause I can’t remember EVERY time) the investment that I make with my time to do what He wants me to do comes back with so much joy! It’s a joyful thing to give up your time to do something He wants you to do. This is just one form of giving that I think God has asked us to do. He is the ultimate example of giving.
Great job Mellie!
YEAH MELANIE!!!!! whoop whoop! congrats on ur first devo!! 🙂 so proud! 🙂 but today giving as it is so called.. it means to me mostly sharing or giving someone else the words of Christ. and other times giving may mean tht simply just giving a gift or a present on someones bday or giving money to the people who are homeless.
this verse applys to giving by tht god gave his ONLY son to go and die on the cross for my sin and urs. tht verse always blows my mind and tht how god let his only son just die for the better. 🙂 great job melanie! i really understood it. 🙂
i have prayer requests;;;; 1) my mom and dad both have a job interview on monday
2) ezra- salvation
3) my brothers cat went missing and hopefully she comes home! 🙂
P.S.– Amazing job Mel!! 🙂 love ya guys and im brining mafalda tonite and c u later! 🙂
That is so true, that God is the one who gave first. And He gave us pretty much the best gift there is! I think sometimes we can get the wrong attitude about giving, thinking that it’s Christmas so we HAVE to give gifts. I know I’ve felt that way before. But I think the reason we give gifts on Christmas is kind of like representing the ultimate gift that God gave us. With that being said, it really a great thing to give!
Christmas is usually a busy time, with family and everything, that it’s easy to get caught up in it all. But I hope we all can remember what Christmas is really about 🙂
You did an amazing job on the devotions Mel! It’s crazy to think about how much you’ve grown this past year, I’m proud of you! & I’m looking forward to the rest of the devotions you’ll be doing ❤ Great job on the comments too guys! I'm soo excited for tonight, see you all later! 🙂
Let’s give it up for Melanie Mentzer!
(Clapping)
LOL…
Great devo…
I’m like Megan- Now that I’m a dad, I can’t imagine giving up my kid for anyone. God gave the greatest gift ever given when He gave us Jesus Christ. I’m so thankful that He did that.
Looking forward to the rest of this series!
And, I’m looking forward to some FELIZ NAVIDAD! Woohoo!
Wow guys! Thank you so much!! I can’t even express how amazing it is to read all of your comments! You all did a great job, and thanks for your compliments! You guys are awesome 🙂 love you guys, and I’ll see you in a bit!
#aseasonforgiving woot!
Hey I know it’s late but I think this devo is great!
John 3:16 is such a cool verse, it’s full of so much truth & it’s so simple. God loved us enough to give* His only son to die for our sins. That’s the greatest gift of all If you ask me! Christmas time is a season for giving- giving presents, giving our time, giving our love to others.. This list goes on and on! But when I hear the word “giving” thats what I think of.
This applys to my life because I know that everyday I need to be a more giving, less selfish young women. I love the feeling I get after making someone happy after I’ve given them something. It makes me feel like I’ve done something right & good! I think that feeling is the best. 🙂
So Mel.. Good job on your first devo! You did really well & I’m also proud of you 🙂 everyone else obviously thinks so too!
Great good Melanie! 🙂 you should to the devo’s all the time! What i think when I here the word giving is, Giving a homless person food and blankets! The reason I think this goes with the devo is cause God is the one who makes us want to do this kind of stuff. And I also agree with you Melanie on your point of giving cause I also think of it that way too!