The Seventh Commandment: Following a Faithful God

At its heart, stealing is based in one question: “What if God is holding out on me?†This fear can make us stop trusting God to provide for us. And God provides for us in two main ways: work and generosity.

It’s easy to forget that work is a good thing. Often, doing things like chores, homework, or going to a job feel more like misery than joy. But the truth is, God designed work to be a good thing—He made us to tend to creation, reigning over it and stewarding it on His behalf. He designed us to be creative like He is creative. And this creative work has a reward: we get food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities from doing work, as well as a sense of purpose and fulfillment from knowing we are doing what God has created us to do.

Another way we can get these necessities is through generosity. God designed us to live in community, and His Holy Spirit works in us to create generosity toward each other. When we recognize how generous God has been with us, we are free to be generous with those around us. We can trust in the abundance God provides, so, when we see a person with an unmet need, we are empowered to give generously to that person. And, likewise, when we are in a time of need, we can lean on our community to carry us through it, trusting that God’s generosity flows through His people.

But because sin has entered the world, sometimes we start to believe the lie God won’t provide what we need. Sin warps our minds, making us think God is stingy instead of generous, so we need to take matters into our own hands.

Jesus puts those fears to rest. We serve a God who sent His Son to become human, take our sin upon Himself, die on the cross in our place, resurrect from the dead to secure our resurrection, and someday return to permanently unite His people to Himself and restore creation to perfect abundance. That is a generous God. • Taylor Eising

• What are some ways you have seen God’s generosity at work?

• How does trusting in God’s generosity free you to be more generous?

• What kind of work do you enjoy?

Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Matthew 6:26 (NLT)

Read Verses:

Exodus 20:14; Matthew 5:27-30; Ephesians 5:21-33