Season of Giving
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Intro
Intro
How many of you think you are generous?
As a Christian, you are called to be a giver.
As a Christian, you are called away from being selfish.
It’s easy to be selfish, everyone is selfish at some point.
It’s easy to say “No, I can’t give to God because well I need the money.”
It’s easy.. really really easy.
People say, “Oh, I’ll tithe once I get wealthy..” but truth is, you won’t. If you are not able to give to God with what you have now, you won’t give to God in the future. It’s a heart problem.
We’re going to talk about these things today.
Sin of Selfishness
Sin of Selfishness
As we discuss this, this is not just about money. It’s life in general, the things you do.
Selfishness is the attitude of being concerned with one’s own interests about others.
Is selfishness a sin, yes!
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
When we read Galatians, Paul tells us that this is the work of the flesh. If you are a believer, you should not be doing the works of the flesh, but the works of the Spirit.
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.
As a Believer your desire is to do the works of the Spirit.
One of the best examples of Selfishness, or someone being concerned of their own interests… is Solomon, in my opinion.
But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.
“Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes,
God gives His people a warning about the king having too much.
Solomon was incredibly wealthy, which is not a bad thing. Being rich isn’t bad, it’s how you handle it. God wants you to be a good steward over your finances and life.
666 talents of gold = 800,000 ounces.
Gold today for an ounce is about $1478.75..
Soo, today, Solomon would be making 1.2 Billion a year.
Guys, this is just in gold… This is not counting taxes, tariffs from people and other governments.
God blessed Solomon because of his priorities and godly prayer requests.
The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.
behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.
Solomon had everything.. he also accumulated a lot of women..
He had 700 wives and 300 Concubines.
He married for political and selfish reasons, and in an effort to please many of them.. He built them places for pagan worship and they turned Solomon’s heart away from God.
This all goes back to !
Solomon blew it, he did not heed God’s warning.
Since he didn’t listen, all the things he had turned his heart away from God.
Now, God did promise Solomon that he would be wealthy, so his wealthy wasn’t wrong. The problem was the heart, where he kept on accumulating large amounts of everything, and it turned into selfishness.
I can’t blame Solomon, because that is what many Christians would do today. Christians do it today even though they have or don’t have wealth. They think they own what they have, but in reality, everything belongs to God. You’re just a steward of that thing. Solomon wasn’t fully devoted to God.
A Giving Heart
A Giving Heart
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Whereas Solomon stored up treasures for himself on earth, Jesus tells us to store up treasures in heaven.
Your heart is naturally attached to things of this world.
We need to understand that all the things in the world are going to burn up one day, they don’t last forever.
When we look back to , we see that all of Solomon’s wealth was gone in 5 years when his son, Rehoboam took the throne.
The king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and took all the treasures of the temple and palace.
Rehoboam had to replace those gold shields with bronze shields.
Will you set your eyes on that which is not?
For riches certainly make themselves wings;
They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.
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Riches, possessions, come and go. There here one day and gone the next.
We are not able to take possessions with us to heaven, but we are able to send treasure to heaven.
If we would have a giving heart, if we invest our lives into things that are eternal then we will have treasures waiting for us in heaven.
Now what...
Now what...
In life there are givers and takers..
Either you are giving, not just money, but time, love, effort, and so on.
Or you are a taker.. You take and take and take, but never give out.
Giving Is Not An Action — It’s An Attitude
So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God. So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also.
Whether in finances, ministry, relationships, you give with a cheerful heart.
Giving starts in the heart and becomes an action.
When you start to give, you understand that it is an enjoyable experience. It’s enjoyable because you are able to help people and bring happiness to others.
2. Jesus Asks For More Than Money
When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
mark 8:34-37
There were people there that placed their tithe in the offering thinking they’ve done their bit for God… but that’s garbage.. God wants you more than your money.
Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Jesus knew what was holding this ruler back from following Him, so Jesus told him to sell everything and give.. Jesus wanted the ruler not his money.
Financial giving is a part of the Christian life, but the most important thing is that God wants all of you.
3. Giving is the heart of christian life
These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Our impulse should be to give...
Give what you can, time, love, money, food…
Christians should be the most generous people, because God gave His all, so the least we could do is give whatever we can as a sign of worship.