GIVE FREELY

“One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.” (Proverbs 11:24)

As Christians, we have a moral and spiritual obligation to give freely, give generously and give cheerfully. Giving is an act of grace and a fruit of righteousness. But, sadly for some, giving is a subject that stirs strong negative emotion and selective hearing; they withhold what they should give.

But why should a Christian struggle to give freely of their resources – to finance the gospel , to be hospitable and relieve the poor, to meet all kinds of need? We can suggest at least one reason why a person will withhold what they should give, but it certainly has nothing to do with lack of ability or opportunity. God will accept and bless your giving “according to your ability”.

Withholding your giving, whatever the form, is always a reflection of a weak, or lack of, trust in God. First, it reflects that you do not believe God when He says He has given you seed for sowing (2 Cor 9:10). Withholding your giving is failure to sow your seed. And secondly, withholding what you should give indicates that you do not believe God when He says “Give and it shall be given to you…” (Luke 6:38). God is your source: He gives you seed, and He multiplies it back to you when you sow it!

Is anyone better off by withholding? God says, No! “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.”  Paul wrote, “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.” (Philippians 4:17). Give yourself to God and give freely even as God Himself has given you all things freely. It is more blessed to freely give of your money, time and talent than to withhold! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OUR SUFFICIENCY

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it .” Psalms 81:10 This passage speaks eloquently also and with relevance to us, who have been called out of darkness and into God's marvellous light, about our relationship with our redeemer. The LORD our God is not out-dated and He is certainly not incapable. He is timeless and still all powerful; as gracious today, merciful, loving, and just as He ever was. The Lord our God who delivered Israel from Egypt is the same God who died for our sins and rose again for our justification. He is the same yesterday, today and forever; a jealous God who demands the loyalty of His people and will not share His glory. Furthermore, we are reminded that the Lord is our sufficiency: “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it” ! These words conjure up the image of a nest full young hungry birds with their mouths open wide waiting expectantly for their parents to stuff them full with food. T
Read more

TRIED AND PURIFIED

"For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried." ( Psalm 66:10 ) One of the certainties of our relationship with God is that our confidence in Him will be tested, tried and purified. God’s love for His children means that He also wants us to be purified. This will require trying and testing. The symbolism of our reflection passage is very interesting. Silver, an impressive shinny precious metal starts out as a lump of earth mixed with traces of silver ore. But soon it goes through a fiery refining process and from the other end emerges a precious metal. The adversities, obstacles and challenges you face in life are the furnace of life in which you are being tried and tested, and the contaminants removed just as silver is tried and purified in the furnace of fire to extract that spotless piece of valuable metal with a sheen that can never be tarnished.  It is never comfortable when we face these oppositions, but they bring out the best in us. And w
Read more

FIRST THINGS FIRST

“Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house”. (Proverbs 24:27) There is order in life. No successful completion can emerge from an ill-conceived foundation. God is not the author of confusion. The wisdom of the passage of our focus in today’s reflection is this: It impresses upon us the value of carefully planning and organising our day as opposed to simply jumping at the first thing that grabs our attention. There is a time for everything and each must be done in its proper season. First, get the fields ready and get all the outdoor preparation for cultivation done as the planting season approaches. Next, it is then time to build the house. The implication is obvious: God is interested in how we use our time. God challenges us to daily set our priorities right. Failing this, we will find ourselves jumping from one thing to the next without any goal, and at the end of the day, our busyness would not have translated to anything of significance
Read more