Giving

No one likes to talk about money. It is one of those things that we never seem to have enough of. Which makes the idea of giving some of it away a hard pill to swallow. While there are some out there who live in poverty and don’t have enough to pay for their daily needs, this post isn’t addressed to them. It is addressed to those of us who have enough and often spend our excess on things that we don’t need but want and in all honesty sometimes those things are stupid. 

For many of us we don’t give not because we can’t but because we don’t or we give a token amount just to say we give. Many of us could give more than we do now. But why should we? 

First we don’t give because God needs our money. God has enough resources to take care of whatever it is that he needs. Remember God is omnipotent meaning he is all powerful. So if he wanted to he could just create whatever he needed. Let’s also not forget that as creator he can do with his creation whatever he wants. 

So if we God doesn’t need us to give why should we give? 

We give because spiritually we need to give. To be clear I don’t mean our salvation is dependant on our giving. What I mean is that giving and specifically giving more than just a token amount forces us to remember multiple things that benefit us spiritually. 

The first thing this reminds us is that we are dependent beings. As people who can buy more than just what we need and rarely if ever worry about where our next meal will come from we can forget that it is God who sustains us. A prayer asking for God to provide “our daily bread” has less impact when you have a week's worth of food sitting in your kitchen. However, giving, and sometimes giving sacrificially reminds us that God is the one who sustains us. 

The second thing this can remind us of is that we are merely stewards of God’s property. Everything in this world as stated before belongs to God including our money. If we are stewards, what better way to steward one of the best resources God has given us to invest it to bring more people into the kingdom of God. Your giving to your church or other Christian organization should have at least some sort of impact on those who do not know Christ. 

There are other things we can discuss when it comes to giving. But I am going to stop here and issue a challenge. Spend some time, not just today but for a week or so seeking God’s wisdom on if should give more than you are currently giving. I don’t care if you give to your local church, or a missions agency or some other parachurch organization but really seek God’s direction on this and try it for a bit. I’m not saying go bankrupt by giving but maybe be open to sacrificing some of the things you want in order to give to God’s kingdom. If you aren’t currently giving than my challenge is to just give you have to start somewhere.