When You Don’t Have Enough

Love Gives: From Bag Mindset to Barn Mindset

Scripture References

Primary text

• 2 Corinthians 8
• 2 Corinthians 9

Other references

• John 3:16
• Haggai 1:6
• Deuteronomy 28:8
• Proverbs 3:10
• Malachi 3:10
• Matthew 23

Overview

“Love gives.” Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive, and Paul’s description of the Macedonian believers proves it. Generosity is not about how much we possess but the mindset we carry. Today’s message contrasts a scarcity “bag mindset” with an abundance “barn mindset,” shows how tithing breaks the cycle of fear, and invites us to mirror God’s own heart of giving.

Context

Over the coming weeks the church will walk through 2 Corinthians 8–9. Paul wrote these chapters to encourage Corinthian believers to join the Macedonians in helping the poor. The Macedonians, though suffering and extremely poor, had already given with overflowing joy.

Main Points

> “Love gives.”

• God is love, and “God so loved the world that He gave…” Therefore real love is inherently generous; we cannot love without giving.
• Everyday examples:
  • Story: Craig loves cherries but loves his daughter Joy more, so every cherry-topped dessert goes to her.
  • Illustration: Choosing “Little Women” over an action film because Amy prefers romances.
  • Story: Grandkids’ bathtub “poop and vomit” disaster—Amy cleaned it because her love outweighed the mess.

Two competing mindsets

Bag Mindset – “I don’t have enough.”

• Echoed in Haggai 1:6: wages drop into a bag with holes.
• Scarcity cycle: God supplies → we consume → we lack → we fear → repeat.
• Common excuse: “When I have more, then I’ll give.”

Barn Mindset – “We have more than enough.”

• Deuteronomy 28:8 promises blessing on barns for those who obey.
• Proverbs 3:10: honoring God with firstfruits leads to barns filled and vats overflowing.
• Macedonians embodied this mindset: “extreme poverty” + “overflowing joy” = “rich generosity.”

Tithing & firstfruits: breaking the scarcity cycle

• Tithe = returning the first 10 % to God; it began before the Law and was affirmed by Jesus (Matthew 23).
• Malachi 3:10 is the only place God invites us to test Him: bring the whole tithe and watch Him “throw open the floodgates.”
• Giving first creates a new supply cycle: God supplies → we give first → God multiplies → our faith grows.
• 90 % with God’s blessing goes further than 100 % without it.

Personal testimony: from holes in the bag to barn blessings

• Craig once tithed for the first time in college and saw God provide in a life-changing way.
• Church story: When the church was paycheck-to-paycheck, they chose to give their sermons and the YouVersion Bible App away for free. Today over a million pastors use those resources and 700 million devices host the Bible App—evidence of barn blessings following generous obedience.

Watch out for greed

• Jesus warned, “Be on guard.” Money is a counterfeit god, promising peace, security, and significance that only God can deliver.
• Wealth often lowers the percentage people give; some live with barn-level resources but a bag mindset.

Gospel: God’s ultimate gift

• Humanity’s sin separates us from God, but because “love gives,” the Father sent His only Son.
• Jesus is like God’s tithe—given first, before any response from us.
• Receiving this gift frees us from spiritual scarcity into eternal abundance.

Key Truths

• Generosity is not a money issue first; it is a mindset issue.
• Love always expresses itself through giving.
• Putting God first with the tithe dismantles fear and activates faith.
• God often multiplies what we return, but His greatest rewards are deeper than cash—peace, purpose, unity, and transformed lives.
• Money makes you more of what you already are; it cannot change a selfish heart.

Response

• Examine your mindset; identify “bag” thoughts and replace them with God’s promises.
• Rearrange your budget to return the first 10 % to God this month.
• Practice spontaneous generosity—buy someone’s meal, cover a coffee, meet a need.
• Thank God daily for His provision and recount barn-level blessings already in your life.
• Share the gospel, God’s greatest gift, with someone this week.

Closing

Paul’s impoverished Macedonian friends begged for the privilege of giving. Their secret was simple: they “gave themselves first to the Lord,” and everything else followed. We can do the same, moving from a hole-ridden bag to overflowing barns.

“It is more blessed to give than to receive… because love gives.”

May we lead the way with irrational generosity, trusting the God who always has more than enough.

Prayer

Father, renew our minds. Free us from scarcity and plant in us the joy of giving. As we honor You with our first and best, multiply what remains, supply every need, and let our generosity point people to the greatest gift—Jesus. Amen.