Curated Reading for August 23 – 29
Sermon Series: Real Purpose Week 2Sermon Title: Gifted to Give delivered on August 23, 2026
View Sermon Notes →
Day 1 READ: Matthew 6:19–21
Devotional: Jesus never treated money as merely a financial issue. He understood that our treasure and our heart are deeply connected. We live in a culture that constantly tells us to acquire, upgrade, protect, and accumulate. But Jesus challenges us to ask a deeper question: "What does my treasure reveal about my heart?" Where we consistently invest our resources, our hearts tend to follow. Giving is therefore not primarily about what leaves our bank account; it is about what God is forming inside our hearts. When we give, we declare that Jesus is more valuable than the things money can buy.
Daily Reflection Questions:
- What does your current spending reveal about what you value most?
- Is there an area where your desire for financial security has begun to compete with your trust in God?
Day 1 PRAY: Ask God to reveal anything you are holding too tightly. Pray for a heart that treasures His Kingdom more than temporary possessions and trusts Him with everything He has placed in your hands.
Day 2 READ: 2 Corinthians 9:6–8 Devotional: Giving requires trust because money often represents security. Paul uses the picture of a farmer planting seed. Once the seed leaves the farmer's hand, it is no longer available for immediate consumption, but it has not been wasted—it has been planted. Generosity can feel the same way. We can look at what we give and think, "That's something I no longer have." But God invites us to see generosity as an act of planting. We are trusting God who supplies the seed, provides what we need, and produces the harvest. We don't give because we know exactly what tomorrow will bring. We give because we know the One who holds tomorrow.
Daily Reflection Questions:
- When you think about giving financially, what fear or concern rises most naturally in you?
- How would your financial decisions change if you truly believed that God is your provider?
Day 2 PRAY: Ask God to replace financial fear with faith. Pray for the courage to trust Him with your resources and the wisdom to steward what He has entrusted to you.
Day 3 READ: 2 Corinthians 9:9–11 Devotional: Paul gives us a surprising reason God provides for us: "so that you can be generous on every occasion." God's blessings are not designed to stop with us. They are designed to flow through us. God gives seed to the sow, not simply seed to store. When we understand this, generosity shifts from an obligation into an opportunity. God can use our resources to meet needs, advance the gospel, strengthen His church, and change lives. The question isn't simply, "What can I afford?" The better question is, "What could God accomplish through what He has entrusted to me?"
Daily Reflection Questions:
- What is one way God has blessed you that you could use to bless someone else?
- How does it change your perspective to think of your resources as something God has entrusted to you instead of something you permanently own?
Day 3 PRAY: Thank God for the ways He has provided for you. Ask Him to show you where your resources can become a blessing and an investment in His Kingdom.
Day 4 READ: Proverbs 3:9–10 Devotional: Generosity becomes difficult when it is whatever happens to be left over. Scripture repeatedly calls us to put God first—not because God needs what we have, but because putting Him first changes the way we see everything else. Proverbs says, "Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops." The principle is simple: give God the first portion, not the leftovers. The first portion represents priority. Giving first is an act of worship because it forces us to trust God before we know exactly what the rest of the month will look like.
Daily Reflection Questions:
- Do you currently approach giving as something you do first or something you do if there is enough left?
- What would it look like for you to put God first in your financial priorities?
Day 4 PRAY: Ask God for wisdom and discipline in managing your finances. Pray that generosity would become a consistent expression of worship rather than an occasional response to a need.
Day 5 READ: 2 Corinthians 9:11–15 Devotional: When we give to the local church, we aren't simply paying bills or keeping an organization running. We are participating in the mission of Jesus. Every dollar entrusted to Shoreline can become part of something much bigger than a budget. It becomes people hearing the gospel, children learning about Jesus, students discovering their identity in Christ, families being strengthened, people being cared for, and the mission of Jesus moving forward. You don't simply give to the church. You give through the church to accomplish the mission of Jesus. Your generosity is one of the ways you move from being a consumer of church to becoming a contributor to God's Kingdom.
Daily Reflection Questions:
- What excites you most about the mission God is accomplishing through Shoreline?
- How does viewing your giving as joining Jesus' mission change the way you think about generosity?
Day 5 PRAY: Thank God that He allows you to participate in His work. Pray that Shoreline would become a church marked by joyful, sacrificial, Kingdom-focused generosity.
Memorize and Reflect
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.