Cultivating a Spirit of Generosity – Part 2

1 Timothy 6:17-19

NKJ 

,

NLT 

Picking
up after last week. I want to speak as some opposing ‘spirits’ to that which
should/could be a generous one.

NLT 

Stop being angry! Turn from
your rage! Do not lose your temper — it only leads to harm.

NLT 

Stop being angry! Turn from
your rage! Do not lose your temper — it only leads to harm

Matthew 18:27: One who was forgiven much but wouldn’t forgive little.

2

Numbers 5:14 speaks about jealousy between husband and
wives and the consequence.

Deborah Bell, Deo Gloria Family Church
states, The
Bible says that the Spirit of God departed from Saul when a spirit of jealousy
entered him!

Today the Spirit of God will not depart
from a believer when jealousy enters, but that spirit will blind us and cause
us to stumble.

We need to be careful that a spirit of
jealousy does not take hold of us and put out the Spirit’s fire on the inside
of us!- You don’t want the ‘wrong’ kind of fire to consume you; it can, if you
let the spirit of jealousy in.

: Example of Saul and David

: We need to be secure in who we are: what God has given us, our lot in life, etc.

A mean-spirited person is one whose natural impulse is to
cause harm or trouble for others. We are all mean-spirited at times, but this
article will focus upon those whose personalities are characterized the majority
of the time by hateful, rude, or spiteful behavior. The fictional curmudgeon
Ebenezer Scrooge, prior to his Christmas transformation, is a good example of a
mean-spirited person in 

.

Mean-spiritedness is part of our fallen sinful nature (

, 

; 

). We are born
selfish with a desire to gratify ourselves at any expense. Depending upon the
effectiveness of our early training, we may learn more socially acceptable ways
of interacting with others, but we can still behave in hateful, mean-spirited
ways due to the inability to control our own evil tendencies (

). Mean-spirited people are not pleasant to be around, so we
learn to curb some of those selfish impulses in order to be more popular.
However, there are some who don’t care what anyone thinks, and they keep their
mean-spirited actions on public display.

I believe it’s connected
to a ‘root of bitterness’.

https://www.gotquestions.org/root-of-bitterness.html

First, it is helpful to
look at a more recent translation of the entire verse. The New International
Version reads, “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no
bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many” (

). This passage is directed at the
whole church.

In the Hebrew culture, any poisonous plant
was called a “bitter” plant. Poison destroys, and the result of ingesting a
poisonous plant would be bitter, indeed. The author of the book of Hebrews uses
a “bitter root” as a metaphor for that which would bring harm
to the church.

Moving to the New Testament, we have another reference to the destructive power of bitterness. While rebuking 

, Peter tells him to repent of his wickedness, with an added insight: “I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin” (

). Simon’s wickedness was his desire to buy the power of the Holy Spirit, essentially treating God as a commodity to enhance his own career as a magician.

From ancient civilization when man was sent out of the Garden of
Eden, man has struggled with the temptation of pride; this started in heaven
with Satan (the father of pride)-Isaiah 14: 12-15. Pride is the first sin
committed in the Universe when Satan was lifted up in pride because he wanted
the worship that belongs to God. From then slaves, great men, wise men, young
and old has been snare by the spirit of pride and have paid the consequences of
their actions.

What is Pride?

Pride is inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable conceit of
one’s superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, accomplishments etc. These
persons will exalt themselves and at the same time belittle others or
magnifying themselves at the expense of their neighbors or others they meet.

Jim Powell – 5 signs of an arrogant heart

What I refer to is a spirit that just doesn’t think or consider what he/she says or does.

They just blurt out (usually dumb / insulting / demeaning
/ hurtful stuff.

No filter, no compassion, no sensitivity, no love.

: We need to Cultivate a Generous Spirit and deal with those areas of our lives that just don’t match biblical soundness .