I wrote yesterday about the generosity that arises from faith in God. If we believe that God has unlimited blessings to give, then why do we cling so desperately to the blessings we have already received from Him?
Today, I’d like to elaborate on that concept a little further. In Paul’s second epistle to church members in Corinth, He uses two words which have contrasting meanings to describe the life of a disciple of Christ.
- sufficient – enough to achieve a goal or meet a need
- abound – be plentiful, have more than you need
One of Paul’s messages is that God will provide what we need, not necessarily what we ask for. When he pleaded with God to take away one of his weaknesses, God responded, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Did Paul want more grace from God or different manifestations of God’s grace? Perhaps. But he willingly embraced this corrective feedback. “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities,” he wrote, “that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9; see also Ether 12:26-27). He was grateful for the grace he had received and recognized that it was enough for him to accomplish God’s purposes.
But a few chapters earlier, he talks about grace differently:
God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8
Sufficiency plays a role in this verse, to be sure. Because of God’s grace, we have enough. Our needs are met. But God’s grace isn’t merely sufficient here. It abounds toward us. To what purpose? So that we can abound in good works, sharing His grace with other people.
I imagine water pouring into my life. Enough of it stays with me to quench my thirst, but most of it passes through me and blesses others.
In a prior epistle, Paul had urged the Corinthians to be “steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). King Benjamin gave the same admonition to his people at the end of his sermon (Mosiah 5:15). And Alma and Ether both taught that if we have faith in God, we will always “abound in good works” (Alma 7:24, Ether 12:4).
I think that we can be settled and stable because we recognize that His grace is sufficient for us, and we can abound in good works because we recognize that His grace is available for us to share with others in abundance!
Today, I will remember that the Savior’s grace is sufficient for me and that it is abundantly available for me to share. I will strive to give and serve spontaneously, to “abound” in good works because of my faith in Him.