Click on the image above for the video of this article or keep reading below for the print version.
What does the word “giving” do to your facial expression? Does it cause you to smile as you think of what your giving expresses to God and what it means to His mission? Or do you get that uncomfortable, feeling like when you realize you have overdue library books? Some people reading this know the joy of giving and have experienced the satisfaction of sacrificial generosity, both towards God and those in need. But inevitably there are others who know that the way they use their money isn’t honouring God. In Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, he gives four corrections that can help when you’re feeling guilty about your giving.
1. Focus on your attitude in giving
Churches often get this wrong, so it’s not surprising that Christians do also. Giving in God’s eyes is fundamentally about the heart. Paul was taking up a collection for the churches in Jerusalem that were experiencing a period of great financial need. He knew that lives were on the line. And yet he took great pains to ensure the right attitude in those who gave. He urged that the actual collection take place before he arrived (1 Corinthians 16:2) “so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction” (2 Corinthians 9:5). He says that “each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion” and then he adds that “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). If you’re giving to look good or not look cheap, then you may be making an investment in your spiritual public relations, but it has little to do with God and you won’t experience the joy of generosity. Take some time alone with God and your finances and plan your contributions as an act of faith and love. Your heart matters to God and He wants your giving to express your heart.
2. Don’t tell yourself that you’ll give when you have some left over
A lot of people struggle with their finances today. Many of us have never been taught healthy financial disciplines and we live at a time when the pull towards more and the allure of easy credit traps many. It’s easy to assume that giving is for people who have extra money on hand. But what if our financial headaches are actually connected to us not giving God authority over our finances in the first place? What if giving God our leftovers is actually a symptom of an unhealthy view of money not just a consequence of it? Paul describes some Christians in Macedonia who were “in a severe test of affliction” (2 Corinthians 8:2). They were being persecuted for their faith and it would have been easy to be consumed with their own problems. But he says that “their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord” (2 Corinthians 8:2-3). They themselves were facing extreme poverty but their joy in Christ moved them to give sacrificially. Giving isn’t for people with left over money. One recent statistic said that people with a salary of less than $20,000 are eight times more likely to give than someone who earns more than $75,000. Getting our giving right is the first step in getting our finances right.
3. Treat giving as a gift in response to the Gift
When Paul was describing the actions of the Macedonians, he said that they were “begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints” (2 Corinthians 8:4). It’s surprising to hear people begging to give away their money. But the rest of the verse may give a hint why. It says that they were begging “for the favor of taking part.” Other versions of the Bible translate it “the privilege of sharing.” The word “favor” or “privilege” is actually the word for grace. In fact, Paul uses this same word repeatedly to describe their giving. He speaks of “the grace of God” (2 Corinthians 8:1; 9:14) and “this act of grace” (2 Corinthians 8:6, 7). Then he says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). He’s pointing them to Jesus’ gift in leaving the riches of heaven and forsaking the riches of this world in order to make us spiritually rich, and he’s connecting our gifts to that gift. Every offering we’ve ever made is just a response to an infinitely greater gift that Jesus first gave to us. That changes why we give.
4. Believe that God blesses those who give
Everything that we have is ultimately from God in the first place. And Jesus’ gift of life was a greater sacrifice than we could ever return. So, it’s hard to fathom that God would respond to our gifts with His blessings, but somehow, He promises to do so. After warning that “whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6), he promises that “God is able to make all grace abound to you” (2 Corinthians 9:8) and that He will “supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness” (2 Corinthians 9:10). Obviously, the promise isn’t about getting rich, but it does describe real blessing. That blessing comes when we honour God with our finances and give generously as an expression of our faith. When we give, He notices and He responds.
Have you ever you sat down in prayer and planned out your giving as an expression of your love for God? Do you put God first in your finances, or do you give him the leftovers? Is giving a privilege to you? Do you give in response to Jesus’ greater gift? Or is it just a habit or an obligation? Let’s lay hold of the grace of giving and the blessing that God promises to those who are generous.
In awe of Him,
Paul
