Giving Is Blessing

¹Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. ²“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ³But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

MATTHEW 6:1-4

GIVING IS BLESSING

Spiritual disciplines like giving, prayer, and fasting can help us grow as followers of Christ, but we should be careful that we are not doing these disciplines for public show. Keep in mind that something good can become bad if our motive is not right. God our Father looks at the heart and He rewards our right motives.

Giving is a blessing. As followers of Christ, our greatest motivation for giving is His love for us and our love for Him. God does not need to reward us for our giving, but He does it to motivate us even ore

GIVING REVEALS OUR HEART

The blessing of giving is that it reveals our heart. How we deal with money is a gauge of our intimacy with the Lord. Jesus tells us that no one can serve two masters, you cannot serve God and wealth (Matthew 6:24).

Sadly, money can be an idol for many people like the rich ruler who asked Jesus how he can inherit eternal life. When Jesus told him to sell all his possessions, give it to the poor, and then come and follow Him, the man was very sad because he was extremely rich (Luke 18:18–24). The story tells us that when money takes the rightful place of God in our life, it becomes too difficult to let go.

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). If you treasure money too much, it can become your god. Until you are willing to let go of something like money, relationship, career or even ministry, you cannot say that it is not your god.

Nothing is wrong in enjoying these things, provided they do not become your gods (1 Timothy 6:17–18). The only way to overcome greed and slavery of materialism is to learn how to give.

GIVING RECOGNIZES GOD’S OWNERSHIP

Giving is a reminder that God owns everything. The primary purpose for tithing and giving is to put God first in our life. God does not need our money, but He wants us to give to remind ourselves that He owns everything.

The principle of tithing was introduced even before Moses gave the Law. Abraham practiced tithing (Genesis 14:20). Jacob also gave a tenth of God’s blessings (Genesis 28:22). The tithe belongs to the Lord (Leviticus 27:30), if we do not give it to Him, then we are robbing the Lord (Malachi 3:8). The practice of tithing is meant to protect us and to remind us that it is the Lord who gives us the ability to make wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18).

God does not need to give us a promise, yet He tells us to test Him when we bring the tithe to the storehouse (Malachi 3:10). Tithing is bringing what belongs to God. In fact, it is not yet giving, because giving is above our tithes.

GIVING RECEIVES GOD’S BLESSINGS

Many of us do not experience the blessing of God in giving because we are made into thinking that tithing is an Old Testament principle. Tithing is a principle of living for our own good. Tithing is not obsolete (Matthew 5:19). The New Testament tells us to give proportionately (1 Corinthians 16:1–2), just as in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 16:17).

God will not only open the windows of heaven to pour out His blessings to us when we tithe, but He will also protect us from devourers so that people will glorify God through our life (Malachi 3:11–12).

Let us use money and not let money use us. By our giving, God can use our money to glorify Him. The key to blessing is in giving. We will not know what God can do, the blessing of knowing that He provides, until we obey Him.

Many people do not give because they do not know the promises of God that come with giving. When we give, it will be given back to us in good measure — pressed down, shaken together, and running over (Luke 6:38).

Giving is not only good for us spiritually but also physically. According to scientific studies, givers are happier than takers, givers are also healthier and they live longer. When God gives us a command it is always for our own good, in all aspects of life.

Giving is not only the privilege of the rich, but it is for everybody, rich and poor. Giving is by the grace of God. The church of Macedonia was afflicted and poor, but they gave beyond their ability (2 Corinthians 8:1–9). People give beyond their accord if their hearts had been renewed and touched by the Lord to give generously.

The discipline of giving will reveal our heart, will enable us to recognize that God is the owner of everything, and will let God bless us. Giving is a blessing in itself, and it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:34–35).

- from 4W's