🙌 Giving Is Not Losing, It’s Worship | 1 Corinthians 16 Devotional (7-Step QT)
7-Step QT Notes
1. 🙏 Quiet Time
Pause.
Take a deep breath.
Ask God to help you see that giving is not a burden, but a grateful response to His grace and a faithful participation in His work.
2. 📅 June 18, 2026
Today’s passage reminds us:
Giving is not losing what belongs to us, but returning to God with gratitude what we have first received from Him.
3. ✝️ 1 Corinthians 16:1-12
Paul tells the Corinthians to prepare their collection for the Jerusalem saints weekly, according to their means. He plans to visit after Macedonia, if the Lord permits, while staying in Ephesus because a great ministry opportunity has opened despite opposition. He asks them to welcome Timothy respectfully.
4. 📖 Key Verse
On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come (v. 2).
5. 📝 Reflection
At some point, many modern churches began to feel hesitant, or even reluctant, to teach their members about giving. I have often wondered why this has happened and have spent a long time thinking and researching about it. Of course, I cannot say this is the final answer, but I believe there are roughly two reasons.
First, many cases of churches misusing offerings have been exposed through the media, creating a negative perception of giving. When offerings are not used for their intended purpose, believers may struggle to find a reason to give. This distrust then creates a vicious cycle of cynicism and distance toward the practice of giving.
Second, there has been a growing number of theologians and pastors who argue that offerings are merely a remnant of the law and may therefore be abolished or reduced. Some younger pastors, with rather unconventional views, have begun to argue that instead of using offerings to support full-time pastors, pastors should work to earn their own living while offerings are used for other good purposes.
I do not intend to defend one particular position over another. I simply feel saddened that giving, a precious tradition of the early church, is being misused or misunderstood. For that reason, today’s QT passage felt especially encouraging. To those who are negative toward giving, today’s passage may sound like an outdated story from the past. Yet Paul’s specific instructions show how meaningful and purposeful giving was in the early church. They also show that early believers regarded relief offerings not merely as a burden, but as a precious channel of grace and love.
Then what does giving mean for us who live in 2026? Is it merely an outdated custom? Was it only a temporary practice shaped by the circumstances of the early church, with no special meaning for the modern church? If so, as some extreme voices suggest, do believers today no longer need to give?
Dear beloved believers, giving is not simply handing over what belongs to us. Giving is an offering we bring to God in gratitude for what we have received from Him (cf. 1 Chronicles 29:14). A faithful steward does not insist on ownership. Rather, a faithful steward acknowledges that everything comes from God and returns what belongs to God with thanksgiving.
Giving is also to be offered voluntarily according to the blessings one has received (cf. Deuteronomy 16:16-17). Therefore, giving is not a system that demands the same amount from everyone. Giving is an act of thankful worship in which believers remember the grace and blessings they have received from God and give according to their situation and faith.
According to Paul’s teaching, giving is not an impulsive emotional response or a temporary act of generosity. It is more like a regular and intentional discipline of faith. Therefore, giving is not merely the act of giving money. Giving is an act of faith by those who have been saved, resisting their self-centered nature and remembering the grace they have received from God.
May we all rightly understand the biblical meaning of giving today, remember the grace we have received from God, and joyfully participate in giving as faithful believers.
6. 💬 What does this passage speak to you today?
- Do I see giving as a burden, or as a thankful response to God’s grace?
- Am I practicing regular and intentional generosity, or only giving when I feel emotionally moved?
- What has God entrusted to me—money, time, gifts, opportunities—that I can use for His kingdom?
- Is there any fear, distrust, or self-centeredness that keeps me from joyful giving?
- How can my giving become an act of worship and love this week?
7. 🙏 Prayer
Our heavenly Father, thank You for everything You have given me.
Help me remember that all I have comes from You.
Teach me to give not out of pressure, guilt, or pride, but out of gratitude and faith.
Make me a faithful steward who uses what You have entrusted to me for Your kingdom.
May my generosity become worship to You and a blessing to others.
Amen.
Scriptures
📖 (1 Corinthians 16:1-12, ESV).
1 Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. 3 And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.
5 I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, 6 and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go. 7 For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 10 When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. 11 So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.
12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.
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