In the last post, you learned exactly how God wants you … me … all of His Christ followers … to give. In simple terms, we are to give freely or willingly as we have decided in our hearts to give … out of what we have. As uncomfortable as that sounds, there is no set amount or percentage … it is already all His anyway.
So … do you want your giving experience to match that??? Let me share a couple of thoughts that have really helped me in this area … but let me warn you up front of my oft asked question: this will be a “face-to-face test” of whether you really believe God and His Word here. I say this because I would venture to say that for virtually every person reading this, it would be easy for the daily requirements of life to soak up every dollar of income you have. Whether a) you have an excess but are overwhelmed by the amount of resources needed to pay for your kid’s education … or set aside for retirement …or take care of elderly parents … or b) you are part of the 78% in the U.S. “living on the edge – paycheck to paycheck,” and all of that is a distant dream, the idea of giving money away will make funding or paying for all of that much harder. So … here’s where the rubber meets the road:
You must believe – really believe - that giving away results in more, not less. As contrary as that might seem, that is the Biblical message in verse after verse. While financial blessings are never guaranteed when we give, here’s what God’s Word does say, both Old and New Testament, and note carefully who’s talking in these passages:
Luke 6:38, Jesus says: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
2 Cor 9:6, 8, 10-11 The apostle Paul provides some unbelievable promises:
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously … 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work … 10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
Even with the legalistic tithes in Malachi 3, recall the tremendous physical blessings God promised for obedience in verse 10:
Mal 3:10, Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
Prov 3:9-10, King Solomon says: Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be [not just] filled [but filled] to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
Prov 11:24-25, King Solomon says: One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
Deut 15:10, God says: Give generously to them [your poor brothers] and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.
(here’s some other verses: Prov 3:9-10, 10:22, 28:27)
Note that there is ALWAYS a blessing, sometimes a material one as in Mal 3:10 and Prov 3:9-10, while other times, it seems to be something far more important: in 2 Cor 9 it says “harvest of your righteousness” and “enriched in every way” and in Deut 15:10 “everything you put your hand to.”
In very simple terms, believers who like to give 10% of their income have a saying that goes like this:
You can live better on 90% than on 100%!
And as crazy as that seems, that is exactly the Biblical message. When you give as He leads – whatever the amount – He absolutely promises to bless you in some way AND as the apostle Paul writes in Phil 4:19:
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
For Paul, that “meeting all your needs” was not living a life of material prosperity but instead, living day-by-day in dependence on Him, whether well fed or hungry, in plenty and in want … so that the Lord could use him to change the world. So, here’s the question to ponder: Do … you … believe … that? Do you believe, REALLY believe, that when you give, you will end up with more, not less? It’s the kind of question that really tests your faith, doesn’t it? It’s not the false doctrine of “giving to get,” but rather giving to God so that you can watch Him bless you in return so that you, like the Macedonians, will yearn or plead to give even more in the future. You may have to grow in this belief, but I would suggest that it is the ONLY way you will be able to give cheerfully, without compulsion and so on, fully trusting that He will meet your needs, whatever He determines them to be.
My second point is even more important and fundamental, as it can act as a powerful motivator when you give. It is a corollary to something I have shared previously:
2. How much does God own? He owns it ALL! So … one startling consequence is this: He doesn’t need … your … money! Why? Because … it’s already all His! Let that sink in for a moment.
Let me share a couple of consequences to that reality. First, since He doesn’t need the money, then this whole process of giving back to Him must be completely for our benefit. In other words, by not doing it, we lose out on something … and by doing it, we gain something.
Let me share a simple $5/day investing example that I elaborate more on in the book. If you save a measly $5/day for 40 years – or $73,000 - investing it in something that provides a 10% return, any idea on how much will you have? Almost a million dollars. Now, by sharing that illustration with you, do I get any benefit out of it? I wish! What I do get, however, is the satisfaction of demonstrating something so beneficial to you that maybe, just maybe, you will do it and benefit by winding up with a million bucks. If you don’t, at the end of those 40 years, what will you have to show for that $73,000 frittered away? Likely nothing. So … that choice of either setting aside only $5/day and winding up with a million bucks or doing nothing and winding up with nothing was solely for your benefit.
So … application time. God, the creator of the universe and the creator of y-o-u, is not sitting on His throne, hoping beyond hope and praying mightily that you will help Him out by tossing a few of your loose coins into His heavenly paper bag so that you can feel good about helping someone in need. No, that is not the purpose of giving at all. It is, instead, like the president of the U.S. walking up to you, pausing and looking you straight in the eye, and saying, “would you like to join me in helping to change the world?”
When we give, God is giving us the opportunity, the privilege, to participate in building His kingdom. And this is no nebulous “pie in the sky” dream. As the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 11, verse 15 about the “hall of fame people of faith” – Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and others:
“… they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he – listen to this - has prepared a city for them.”
Let me share an illustration that should help you understand this. Visualize a coil of rope that is essentially unending, representing our eternal existence as believers. But at the very beginning, there is an inch or so of red tape. Compared to the unending length of the rope, the length of the red tape is unbelievably short … yet, that represents how little time we spend here on God’s earth. And our overriding goal and purpose is to use our lives to serve Him in whatever way He has for us, using our time, talents and resources to, as it says in Matt 6:20, “store up treasure in Heaven.” Because what does it then say in verse 21?
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
So … how are we to give? Willingly … as you have decided in your heart to give … not reluctantly … or under compulsion … but cheerfully.
Maybe that’s enough to ponder for now. Next time, I share the second consequence, which leads to the second main point about giving and WHO we are to give to.