ON GIVING TO GOD

WHAT IS GIVING?

Giving is a subject of perennial discussion among Christians, Should we practice "storehouse tithing. "that is, give all our money through a local church? Is tithing(giving 10 percent of one's salary to God) scriptural for New Testament saints? What ever opinion we hold, it must be kept in mind that, because of Calvary, all that we have and all that we are belongs to God, His blood has redeemed us to Himself(1 Cor.6:19,20). Therefore God is interested not only in the 10 percent I might give Him, but also concerned about what I do with the remaining 90 percent I keep for myself. The Preacher tells us that giving is an act of worship. Whenever we decide to honor God through our giving , we acknowledge His ownership of our resources.(Prov. 3:9,10) "Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the first fruits of  all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. How many of us do remember to honor God with our first fruits? it is when we give that our barns are filled with plenty and our vats flows with new wine. Giving also help us boost our confidence in God knowing that He is in control of everything and there is also an inner peace within us.

THE THREE PRINCIPLE KEYS ABOUT GIVING

1. First there is the prerequisite of giving. The giver must already have given himself to God. The Savior desires the surrender of our lives before we give our money(v. 5), " And not only had we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God."

2. Then there is the pattern of giving. the example of the Macedonians(8: 1-3),"Moreover , brethren we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; that in great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes and beyond their ability they were freely willing, imploring them with much agency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. of the Father (9:15),"Thanking God for His indescribable gift. and of the Son (8:9)," For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. who all gave sacrificially.

3.  Finally Apostle Paul speaks of the pleasure of giving( 9:7), " He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purpose in his heart not grudgingly or of necessity. for God loves a cheerfully giver. Cheerful giving pleases God. And (9:10) says," Now may he who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,

THE IMPORTANCE OF GIVING TO GOD

Our giving is a reminder of the blessings God gave to us through Jesus Christ. "From (John 3: 16) we get the three thoughts that should be the foundation of all our giving. God's motivation for giving was love; He gave Himself in the person of Jesus; and God gave in response to our need. Our giving allows God to act on our behalf, it pleases Him and giving is also an act of worship to God.

1. Our giving allows God to act on our behave;  In (Malachi 3:8) states that failure to pay our tithes and give our offerings, makes us like robbers , stealing from God  and closes the windows of heaven of our blessings. And instead receive curses.  paying tithes and giving offering unlock our blessings, and the windows of heaven are opened on our behalves Malachi 3:10).

2. Our giving pleases God;  The offering that is well is the one He tells us to give; and how do we know how much God is telling us to give? when one feel convicted from the heart genuinely and not like Ananias and Saphira giving part and holding back another, what happened? They died because they lied to the Holy Spirit. Truthfully ,if there is only one person we ever need to be concerned about pleasing is God , because when He is pleased with our giving, we find contentment.(Phil 4:18) Apostle Paul seek the fruit that is bounded on the giving as sweet- smelling- aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God and not the gifts. And in the next v20; what happened when our giving pleases God; "He supplies all our needs, note: all our needs and not just some, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

3.We worship God by our giving: The sequence of worshiping God by giving is beautifully laid out by the Psalmist; There is nothing that we can render to God for all His benefits to ward us! (Ps. 116: 12, 14), First we praise God for all His benefits; realizing that we can never repay Him for His manifold blessings in our lives.

BENEFITS OF GIVING

1. Giving Blesses Us- Abundantly; Do you realize that the more we give, the more God blesses us? That's right. We don't give that we will get, but we give out of gratitude for what God has given to us, and so that God will give us more so that we can give more. that's the essence of giving in the New Testament. Already seen in first Corinthians 9:6) . And in Luke 6:38 says. "Give and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be put into my bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

2. Giving Leads to Joy; God loves a cheerful giver as indicated from (2 Cor,9:7). In other wards giving preparedly and with anticipation of what will do to multiply it for His purpose. That kind of giving produces joy and an excitement of wanting to give more, giving even if we don't think we have enough.

3. Giving Acknowledges That God Owns It All; God is the owner of all that we have and we are merely the stewards of it. Having the steward mentally reminds us that He owns it all, our bodies, our homes, our money, our jobs , our children, our possessions. As the saying goes;  He is either Lord of all, He isn't Lord at all.

4. Giving Increase Our Faith; Giving is not how much money one has but it is about how much faith one has, How much do we trust God that if we give obediently, He will provide for all that we need? Giving is clearly a matter of trust, The more we give, the more we learn to trust God that we will have enough left over for our own needs. And the more we trust, the more we will  give. 

5. Giving Is Evidence Of Our Obedience To God; Anybody can say, "I believe in God" and even, I will follow You Jesus" But when we give as the Scripture instructs, and it is sacrificial ( giving that hurts) then our hearts are involved, And that is an obedient follower. How is giving an act of obedience? In the Old Testament Law, God told the Israelites to give a tenth, of what they owned to the Lord for the support of the priesthood. under the New covenant, Jesus instructed His followers to give generously in proportion to how we would like God to be generous towards us.

6. Giving Sets Our Priorities Straight; We invest not just our time, but our money, in what is most important to us and that is where our hearts are. Jesus told His disciples " to store up for  themselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; He continued to tell them, where their treasure is there, their hearts will be also(Matt. 6:20-21). That is our command to invest in the eternal. God's Word also tells us to be heavenly minded by setting our minds on things above" (Col. 3:2) , If our priority is in the eternal and our sights are set on the life to come, that is where our money will be directed; to benefit the kingdom of God. Therefore, as we give to God and invest in His kingdom, that is where our heart will be fixed and focused. Giving to God prioritizes our lives and is again evidence of our love for Him.

In (Gen. 8:20,22) When God smelled the sweet soothing aroma from the burned offering offered by Noah, Then the Lord said in His heart," I will never again curse earth for man's sake, although the imagination of man is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done." " While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest time, Cold and heat, Winter and Summer, And day and night Shall not cease. Therefore, my beloved brethren as long as you and I are still on this earth,  we are admonished to give, to sow our seeds today for an harvest tomorrow..

"Grace to you and Favor from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, Amen, and Amen, and Amen."