Giving (extract from Kong Hee)
GIVING – DOES IT MATTER
Does God care about our giving? Yes
Mk 12:41 (NIV)
"Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury ..."
Do you know that the Bible is a book on giving?
The Bible talks more about giving than heaven or hell!
There are more promises in the Bible related to giving than any other subject!
Key Bible Words
• Believe 310 times
• Pray 370 times
• Love 735 times
• Give 2, 642 times
Why is this so? God is a Giver – giving flows out of His nature
That is why a mark of spiritual maturity is when the believer makes powerful giving a lifestyle!
2 Cor 8 (NIV)
"But just as you excel in everything---in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us---see that you also excel in this grace of giving."
WHY DOES GOD WANT ME TO GIVE?
Because of the 5 benefits giving brings to my life:
1. Giving makes me MORE LIKE GOD.
God is a Giver and if you want to be like Him. you have to be a giver too!
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son .
NOTE: You can give without loving ... but you cannot love without giving.
Christians ought to be the most giving people in the world...
because we are the most loving people in the world!
2. Giving draws me CLOSER TO GOD.
Mt 6:21
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Your money is a physical representation of your life.
You invest your time, energy, sweat to earn money.
So wherever you put your money shows your PRIORITY.
- If I put my money in my house. that shows where my heart is.
- If I put my money in my wining + dining. ... (Stomach).
- If I put my money into clothes. hobby ...
The question then becomes: Where do you want your heart to be?"
- Where you want your heart to be. there is where you need to put your money .. because Mt 6:21 says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
3. Giving is the cure for MATERIALISM.
Madonna. the pop singer, sings about being a "Material Girl'. Fact is - we live in a very materialistic world!
What is materialism? The essence of materialism is "TO GET"!
- Get all I can + "can" all I get ... Get! Get! Get! Get! Get!
1 Tim 6:17-19 (NIV)
Command those who are rich in this present world [that means all of us] not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment [God wants us to enjoy a good life!]. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly LIFE!"
True living comes from real giving!
NOTE: We are commanded to be generous!
We make a living by what we GET ...
but we make a life by what we GIVE!
4. Giving strengthens MY FAITH.
God uses finances to test our faith + strengthen our faith!
Pro 3:5,9 (NKJV, TLB)
-Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding Honor the Lord by giving Him the first part of all your income, and He will fill your barns to overflowing."
Luke 6:38
-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."
The more you trust God in your giving, the more you will be blessed!
Giving strengthens my faith and the reason why many people don't give is because they simply DON'T BELIEVE!
They don't believe God will take care of them!
This leads me to the 5th benefit ...
5. Giving prospers me IN RETURN.
Pro 11:25
"A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."
Pro 22:9
"A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.
Once again, why does God want me to give?
• Giving makes me more like God.
• Giving draws me closer to God.
• Giving is the cure for materialism.
• Giving strengthens my faith.
• Giving prospers me in return.
THE BIBLE TEACHES 3 KINDS OF GIVING
1. TITHE.
Lev 27:30 "A tithe of everything [you produce] belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD."
But did Jesus talk about tithing in the Gospels?
In fact. tithing was the only thing Jesus commended the Pharisees for doing! (This was the only thing He approved of with the Pharisees!)
Matthew 23:23 (NKJV)
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
-Tithe- means -a tenth part or 10%
NOTE It belongs to the Lord!
- So. you're not really giving God 10% of your money, you are
RETURNING Him (or PAYING Him BACK) 10% of His money!
Why 10%? Why not just set an amount - $50 (to some, this is "peanuts Why not $300? $1,000?
So. God instituted a system that is fair to everyone - the tithe!
1 Cor 16:2 (TLB)
"On every Lord's Day each of you should put aside something from what you have earned during the week, ... the amount depends on how much the Lord has helped you earn."
So. the tithe is a non-negotiable amount - an heavenly obligation we have to the Lord.
But why tithing? Because God wants us to always remember that
everything we own is His.
Deut 14:23 (TLB)
"The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives."
If God does not have the first priority in your finances. He isn't first in your life at all.
Mal 3:10
"Bring all the tithes into the [Church], ... and [test] Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it."
Sometimes, I bump into Christians who find it hard to tithe. Pastor. I used to give only $50, now I have to give $500!" Hey. would you rather be earning $500 or $5,000?
2. OFFERINGS.
A tithe is giving 10% of your income.
An offering is anything I give ABOVE my tithe.
A tithe is a God-ordained obligation - we give because God commands it.
- But an offering is a free-act of the will ... we give out of our GENEROSITY and LOVE for God.
2 Cor 9:7 (TLB)
"Everyone must make up his own mind as to how much he should give. Don't force anyone to give more than he really wants to. for cheerful givers are the ones God prizes "
The more you give willingly, the more God will prosper you.
2 Cor 9:8 (TLB)
"God is able to make it up to you by giving you everything you need and MORE so that there will not only be enough for your own needs but plenty left over to give joyfully to others."
So, every time you get your salary, 10% automatically goes to the Lord - that is the tithe!
- Then after paying the bills + other commitments, out of what is left, you can freely give any amount to the Lord - offering!
But usually, this is only purely moving in the realm of the natural ... the ordinary.
- There is another kind of giving that steps right into the realm of the supernatural ...
3. SACRIFICIAL FAITH COMMITMENT.
This is beyond the giving of the regular tithe and freewill offering.
This is stepping into the realm of sacrifice, faith and commitment.
a. Faith begins by HEARING GOD SPEAKING TO YOUR HEART.
Rom 10:17
"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
This is beyond what you are normally capable of.
You are stepping into the realm of faith!
God says it, that settles it!
b. Sacrifice means DECIDING YOU WILL DO WITHOUT CERTAIN
THINGS so that you can build the kingdom of God.
2 Cor 8:2,4 (TLB)
[Although the Macedonian Christians] have been going through much trouble, hard times, ... and deep poverty, ... they begged us to take the money so they could share in the joy of helping the Christians in Jerusalem."
2 Sam 24:24 (NIV)
(David:) "I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God [any] offerings that cost me nothing ..."
- For some members, it may mean stop taking taxis.
- For some couples, it may be forgoing their annual vacation, or selling an item.
c. Commitment means DETERMINING TO FINISH WHAT YOU HAVE BEGUN
God is a God of commitment.
If He speaks to you an amount and plants faith in your heart. then He will finish what He has started.
Phil 1:6
-Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it ..."
God finishes what He begins ... and so must we.
Phil 4:15-16 (NIV)
"Moreover, as you Philippians know, ... no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need."
2 Cor 9:5-6 (NI V)
"So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given. Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously."
Ps 22:25-26 (David:)
"My praise shall be of You in the great assembly; I will pay My vows before those who fear Him. The poor shall eat and be satisfied ..."
