May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

Abound means to have so much of something that it overflows. The verse says that we can abound in hope, and that hope comes from God. God doesn't give just a tiny bit of hope, He gives generously. He gives us so much that we have enough to overflow and share with others. 

This began when God created the world and everything in it. It all belongs to Him. His creation abounds. It overflows with beauty, creativity, and uniqueness. But when sin entered the world, everything changed. God's perfect creation was broken, but God's love abounds for His people, so He didn't leave us there. 

God generously sent His Son, Jesus, to take the punishment for our sin by dying on the cross and raising from the dead 3 days later. When we trust in Jesus to rescue us from our sin, God gives us the Holy Spirit, who lives with us and helps us become more like Jesus. God doesn't fill us up with His good things just so we can keep them to ourselves. He fills us so we can overflow!

The story of Cain and Abel from Genesis 4 tells us about giving back to God. They were the sons of Adam and Eve. Cain was a farmer who grew crops, and Abel raised animals. One day, they each brought an offering to God. Abel brought the first born and best from his flock of sheep. Can brought some of the food he had grown. When Abel brought the first and best, he was trusting that there would still be enough good animals In his flock. He showed that he trusted God to always provide and that honoring God was important. God rejected Cain's offering. The bible doesn't give us the details about Cain's offering, but it does tell us that God was looking at the heart of the giver. Abel gave the very best he had fully trusting in God. It seems that Cain did not. 

It's important for us to look at the heart behind our giving as well. We don't have to earn God's love. We don't give to look better. We give because we love God, we trust Him and we want to bring Him glory. The first step in giving our first and best is trusting God.