(By Kim)
This is post no 7 and the concluding post in our series ‘Seeking the Heart of God For Your Finances’. In our previous post we spoke about giving and why should we give. Let’s see in this post how are we supposed to give. Please do let us know how the series has blessed you here: [email protected]
1. Give till you become a giver
Give…till giving becomes a habit. You become a teacher when you start practicing your profession, similarly you become a giver not when you give one or two times, but when you start practicing giving.
Give not out of an emotional high, but be intentional about your commitment.
Some of us wait till we have ‘enough’ for ourselves before we decide to give to others. But trust me that ‘enough’ will never happen. Jesus said, “Give and it shall be given unto you” Luke 6:38. He didn’t say, “Give when you have enough balance with you.”
The Bible says, If you wait for perfect conditions you will never get anything done. (Ecclesiastes 11:4).
2. Give like Jesus gave
What is your giving costing you? King David, a man after the heart of God said, “I will not offer to God that which costs me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24:24). To quote a man of God, “God measures your gift not by how expensive it is, but how much of a sacrifice it is to you.” If your offering is simply leftovers, not costing you anything, do you think that would be pleasing to God?
Let’s learn to give sacrificially.
Remember a bone to the dog is not charity, but charity is the bone that you share with the dog when you are as hungry as the dog is!
Give frequently. Give randomly. Christ’s self giving (1 John 3:16-17) should now be our standard of giving.
3. Give out of love
Let love be your only motive for giving. 1 Corinthians 13:3 says “If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.”
Expect no gratitude or reward from man, but only from God because man will disappoint you, but God will never. Give out of love because love makes your giving worth it!
4. Give in secret
There are three things Jesus commanded us to do in secret ( giving, fasting, praying) and the foremost is giving!
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:2-4).
5. Give Cheerfully
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7). Cheerful givers are the ones that reflect the heart of God and make Him proud. They are the ones that truly are trusting God to be their provider. So let’s be cheerful givers!
-‘Seeking God’s Heart for your Finances’ series concluded