The Most Excellent Way: Unprofitable

The Most Excellent Way

A Small Group Devotional

Week 4: Unprofitable

“If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

1 Corinthians 13:3, NIV Tweet

Reading

Read the following texts.

Discussion

There is an impulse within our churches to solicit donations and volunteers by appealing to self-interest. “God will always outgive you, so give to us and He will give you so much more.” We see this in recruitment for short-term mission trips as well when it is inevitably stated that, “you will get more from going than you will give.” The Apostle Paul reminds us that why we give and why we go matters.

Describe a time when someone served you or sacrificed for you with no strings attached? How did that make you feel?
Describe a time when someone gave something to you or even did something difficult for you, but there was a catch—they wanted something from it. How did you feel about their gift or sacrifice?
Why do you think we tend to encourage people to give or sacrifice by emphasizing what they will get?
What are the differences between giving all to the poor with love versus without love?
How can we avoid the lure of boasting without the extremes of false humility or the inability to accept complements and affirmations?