My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One… Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth… Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. 1 John 2:1, 3:18, 5:21
“And now, my children, hearken unto me and beware of the spirit of deceit and envy. For envy ruleth over the whole mind of a man, and suffereth him neither to eat nor to drink, nor to do any good thing. But it ever suggesteth (to him) to destroy him that he envieth; and so long as he that is envied flourisheth, he that envieth fadeth away. Two years therefore I afflicted my soul with fasting in the fear of the Lord, and I learnt that deliverance from envy cometh by the fear of God. For if a man flee to the Lord, the evil spirit runneth away from him, and his mind is lightened. And henceforward he sympathiseth with him whom he envied and forgiveth those who are hostile to him, and so ceaseth from his envy.”
The Testament of Simeon 3:1-6 in The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. From The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament by R. H. Charles, vol. II, Oxford Press.
It’s been rewarding to participate in creating a generosity curriculum for the Sunday School programs of Malawi. Each of 12 lessons had a memory verse. One verse we used, above, was 1 John 3:18, about loving with actions and truth. It prompted me to read other “children” verses and to go to the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.
In The Testament of Simeon, he warns children about deceit and envy. This is a good lesson for adults who want to be generous. Why? Wealth is deceitful according to Jesus and it leads us to desire the wrong things which is envy. What’s the way out of its power? It’s fasting in the fear of the Lord! It’s setting aside your desires and desiring God over all.
Today in Malawi we focus on the parallel idea of accountability that must accompany generosity. If you have not been tracking with us, GTP is rolling out a program called Palmful of Maize for Malawi, inspired by Handful of Rice from India, in partnership with STUM and GenerousChurch.
We created a 16 lesson generosity curriculum for the Sunday School programs of Malawi that will run from 24 April to 7 August 2022 all across Malawi. Now we are working with the national team that will facilitate like Levites the work of training people to give maize so that it can be converted to resources for mission and mercy efforts.
God help us stand on the foundation of the AfCAA standards which exhibit fear of God. God help us set aside our desires and understand your heart for mobilizing the next generation to be generous with what they have. In your mercy hear our prayer in the matchless name of Jesus. Amen.