Giving

Giving to God can be an exhilarating experience! Doing it in the correct and proper manner is a blessing in itself. As we go through life the mentality of many people in Christendom is if you give to God then He will in turn bless you. Yes, this is a true statement but it’s taken out of context of what scripture is saying. There is a perception about giving to God; if we give a large amount of money then in return we will receive blessings in greater abundance. This isn’t the case. Giving to God is a part of stewardship; notice I said “a part…..”

When we give to God as Christians, we tend to think, “O.K., I give to God 10% of my income and an additional percentage as offering (let’s say 5%), so the rest of the money is mine to do with as I please.” That is incorrect; every penny we make is God’s. The 10% plus the 5% offering is done by faith on our part. Not only are we giving our tithes and offerings to support the Church and the many facets that the Church provides, but we also need to consider the percentage of funds that we take home. The other 85% we put in our bank accounts is also God’s, so it is our duty to be good stewards. We need to establish a budget with the money God has placed in our hands; we need to know where every penny is going.

If we give to God sacrificially, but at the expense of having our bills late, even to the point of having “no pays” placed on our credit reports, this is not fulfilling the Word of God regarding stewardship.

For instance, I know of a situation involving a single parent, trying her best to raise her family on her salary. She gives her tithes and offerings and has made an additional commitment to her Church for the building fund. In turn this has jeopardized her living situation with the possibility of having her vehicle repossessed. The monthly building fund commitment she has made to her Church is enough to keep her current on her vehicle payment. I commend her zealousness in wanting to give more to the Church, but what is needed is to commit to a lesser amount to the Building Fund, so she can pay her car payment.

Remember, the concept of stewardship isn’t just giving to God in tithes, offerings, alms etc., but stewardship is the broad spectrum of giving to the Church, preparing a budget and working on it so it brings God glory in all areas of our individual financial situations.

I also suggest if you can at this point in your life, set aside additional funds so that God can use you in a special way. For example; special Church offerings, a family that is in need of financial assistance, or a number of other instances. Just think of the opportunities to help others if you have such an account set aside.

Remember, God has entrusted each one of us with different levels of financial responsibility, it’s up to you how you handle what has been placed in your care.

You need to stay focused on giving to God in the proper way. Some believe in the “Prosperity Message.” For those who are not familiar with the prosperity message, in short, it teaches that God wants you to be prosperous right now, and goes so far as to say that if you are not prosperous, something must be wrong. I would like to take an excerpt from Randy Alcorn’s book, “The Treasure Principle,” that explains in one sentence the deception of the prosperity message.

Health and wealth gospel dishonors Christ, since any gospel that is more true in America than China is not the true gospel. Prosperity theology is built on a half-truth. God often does prosper givers materially, but He won’t let us treat Him like a no-lose slot machine or a cosmic genie who does our bidding. Giving is a sacrifice. God’s payoff is very real, but it comes at the “proper time,” which may not be today or tomorrow but in eternity (Galatians 6:9).

Think about it this way, maybe the reason why God is blessing us so much is to increase our standard of giving not our standard of living!!!

To reiterate what my Pastor has taught, “God blesses us, to bless others, so the whole world can be blessed.”