Each year on Nov. 18, Jerry Ediger screens a video in his Bible class at Westminster Christian Academy of the moment he began strengthening his relationship with God. The footage is of him getting paralyzed in the first play of the state high school football championships in Henderson, Nebraska.

Ediger broke his C4 and C5 vertebrae and was paralyzed from the neck down. But the break was incomplete, for which Ediger thanks God. “He’s been very gracious to give quite a bit back as far as a little bit of hand movement, enough to eat and write and drive recklessly,” he said with a laugh.

Ediger said the video is a good way to start conversations with his class. “We watch it and then talk about how good the Lord’s been since then,” he said. “Each time, we take a different slant at it—what have been the most difficult things? Or the most surprising God’s done in the past 34 years? It’s a great reminder of God’s grace and his powers made perfect and that all things work together towards good. It stirs the students’ interest a little bit in how to handle trials.”

It seems strange that we Christians need encouragement to give to others when God has given so much to us. Paul focuses on the attitude behind generosity rather than the act of giving itself. He urges the Corinthians to freely and cheerfully give, not by requirement. By doing so, it makes their gift a blessing to both the giver and the recipient.

2 Corinthians 9 – An Act of Grace

In Chapter 9, Paul appealed to the Corinthian church to give as an act of grace. They hadn’t kept their promises, so he wanted them to know that a church is not spiritual when it is not generous. When you have experienced the grace of God in your life like Jerry Ediger you will not use difficult circumstances for not giving.

The Kingdom Coach and Athlete see their giving as an act of grace. Whether it’s their time or treasure. They believe their heart reflects God’s love and generosity to the word, and it has the power to point people to Christ.

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