when you give

Matthew 6:1–4 CSB

1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven. 2 So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. 3 But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Intro

In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus gives us 3 “when’s”. But what we need to understand about these things is 2 fold: These are things we are expected to do as believers. and HOW we do them matters just as much as doing them. These 3 “when’s” are: When you give, when you pray and when you fast. Jesus qualifies these things as practicing righteousness in 6:1. I truly believe that Jesus highlights these three things because these are the three things that believers struggled to do the most. We struggle to give we struggle to pray, and we struggle to fast. It is easier for us to read our Bible than it is for us to get on our knees and cry out to God. It’s easier for us to attend church than it is for us to sow seeds in giving. We neglect a fast because our natural instinct is to serve our flesh. And that is why Jesus highlights these three things. Because I truly believe these are three of the hardest things, not the only things, but things that even Jesus saw needed to be addressed. And that’s why, with each of these things Jesus uses the word “when”. Because he had to set the tone that these are expected things. Things that are expected of us by God as acts of righteousness. That will strengthen your faith, bless your life, and produce fruit in the body of Christ.

When you give

Being a giver is an expected part of a believer’s life. We are called to be like Christ, and we serve a generous God. He expects us to express the same level of generosity with the same heart that he expressed unto us. That’s why Jesus said when you give not if you give. He expects us to be a giving people. You see we don’t give to get anything in return we don’t give out of compulsion or any other reason except for the reason that we have been so greatly blessed by God by receiving his grace and mercy. He has been so generous to us and has provided for each, and every one of us and it is because of that we ourselves give. Jesus expects us to give, but not just give, we have must give with the right heart and spirit.

3 types of giving

Tithe

The Tithe is holy and belongs to the lord. It is the first 10% of your increase. It was established all the way back with Abraham as a covenant of blessing according to the promise made to him by God that he would be the father of our faith. Tithing is often argued as part of the old covenant law, however it was established on a greater covenant outside of the mosaic law. Hebrews 7 teaches us that it was established according to the priesthood of melchezidek and Jesus is the continuation of that priesthood (a deeper teaching for another time). Your tithe makes the statement that God is first even in your finances. The area of our life that is the hardest to surrender to God. It invites God in to bless your bank account and take care of all your needs. It is the foundation of good stewardship.

It does not mean that because you tithe you live beyond your means. It is not a protection against bad stewardship, it is a blessing upon your good stewardship where God promises that he will meet all our needs when we steward well.

Offering

This category is above and beyond your tithe. Tithing is the ground level, foundation of giving. Offering is out of your generosity. This is giving to missionaries, special projects in the church and other areas where God leads you to be a blessing. Tithing is done out of obedience and covenant. Offering is done at your own free will and desire to be generous and to be a blessing.

Offering is what fuels the missions field. Offering is what allows a church to go above and beyond the bare minimum functions of operating. Offering is what fuels the work of amazing faith based foundations all over the world.

Alms (gifts to the needy)

This is the category that Jesus is referencing here in matthew 6. He talks about giving to the needy and the poor here because he is dealing with the situation of the pharisees who pride themselves on giving extraordinary amounts of money just to get a pat on the back. They want to be seen and get the credit. Jesus uses this example of giving to deal with that situation because people have seen that as their example for so long. The whole purpose of what Jesus is teaching, is to teach about the heart behind giving. The teaching applies to the other areas of giving but he talks specifically here because of the issue at hand.

The bible is clear that we should feed the hungry, take care of the widow, clothe those who are without. Whenever we can help someone in need, we should.

The heart of a giver

We are not supposed to give so that we can be seen by others. Jesus says don’t sound the trumpet. Don’t even Let your Left hand know what your right hand is doing. Giving is to be done in secret. Giving is between you and God. We give because God is so richly blessed us and for no other reason. Giving is a matter of the heart it should always come from our heart from a place of love and from a place of worship unto God. 2 Corinthians 9:7 “7 Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.” We should decide in our heart before we decide with any other motive. God does not want you to give reluctantly or feel like there is a gun to your head. He wants you to give willfully out of the abundance of your heart. Because he loves a cheerful giver.If you give for any other reason, other than love for God. That giving will never be blessed. Don’t ever give to get a pat on the back, or to receive praise from people. God will reward those who give secret.

The blessing of giving

God promises to bless our giving. And Malachi 3 Says that God will open up the windows of heaven and pour out for us a blessing until all of our needs are met. 2 Corinthians 9:6 Tells us that those who so sparingly will reap sparingly, but those who so generously will reap generously. Luke 6:38 “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 back to you.””. God blesses our giving. But only if we give with the right heart.

I believe one of the biggest hold ups to generosity is worrying about what will happen to self. “If i tithe how will i do ________”. If I support this how can I do this. And these questions are centered around you and that is the problem. We think that we are our own provider. I guarantee tithes, offerings and alms are not the reason you can’t afford things. We have a consumer problem where we buy things we don’t need, spend money we don’t have (credit and debt), and prioritize the wrong things. God blesses good stewardship.

The importance of giving

Our giving matters. According to second Corinthians chapter 9, which is a very strong passage of scripture for giving We learned that it is through the giving that ministry can happen. And because ministry can happen people come to know the Lord. But it all goes back to the generosity of the people that were part of the church at Corinth. Paul tells them when you give we can share the gospel and people can be saved.

2 Corinthians 9:12–13 CSB

12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the proof provided by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone.

We even see back in the Old Testament in the book of Nehemiah, where Nehemiah comes to the temple and sees that the Levites, which represent ministry and the priesthood of the Old Testament church, are nowhere to be found, and it is because the people have stopped bringing tithes to the temple. It is the giving that allows for ministry to happen. It is so important for us to be givers.