God Honoring Giving

Introduction

Today we are going to take a look at what it takes to honor God in our giving.

God has given us clear instruction regarding what He expects of us as we give.

The first thing that we must always remember is that we are stewards and not owners. - the earth is the Lord’s

God graciously blesses us with what we have and in turn we have a responsibility to give back to Him. The tithe is the pattern presented to us in scripture in the Old Testament (- bring tithe into storehouse) and in the New Testament (- these ought ye to have done)

Today we are not going to deal in great detail with the amount of our giving but primarily with the attitude of our giving.

Give Generously

If we desire to reap a bountiful harvest we must sow bountifully. We ought to give generously recognizing that truly everything that we have has been given to us by the Lord. - we would not have anything if God did not give us the power to earn it.

- those who give and those who withhold.

Too often believers will give just that which they feel it is their duty to give and nothing more.

Checks for strange amounts because they were only willing to give exactly what was required and not a penny more.

God may not bless us with wealth in response to our bountiful giving but we know that God will not be out-given by any man.

In proportion to our generosity in giving will be the blesses of God upon our lives. The greater the investment we make in the work of God the greater the reward that will one day be ours in eternity!

We ought not to be motivated to give based upon what we expect to receive in return but rather our generosity should be motivated by a since love of God and a desire to give back to Him who has so marvelously given us blessings above measure.

God’s goodness toward us should cause us to desire to give generously.

Give Willingly

We should never be giving because we feel that it is required of us. It is required of “every man”, but if we are only giving because we feel we must meet the requirement then we will miss the blessing.

Paul wrote to the believers at Corinth and encouraged them to give willingly as each purposed in his own heart. We should do the same making a commitment from the heart to give faithfully to support the work of the Lord.

We are not to give grudgingly as though we are being forced or pressured to give. We ought to give even if no one ever asks us to give.

Giving back to God should not be viewed as something that we have to do, but rather as something that we get to do!

Instead of dreading the time of the offering and hesitantly dropping our money in the plate, we should be rejoicing for the opportunity with an eager anticipation of giving back a portion of what God has so freely given to us.

Give Cheerfully

Here we find an attitude that is pleasing to the Lord when we give. God loves those who give cheerfully.

The attitude that is here being described is that of an individual who gives without reservation or regret. The person who gives with a smile of his face and joy in his heart.

This is the type of giver that has the approval of God on his giving. Far too often we give, but as we do we are filled with feelings of loss and regret as we think what we might have used the money for were it not required of us to give.

We must remember that giving is one means of worship and is the means whereby we have opportunity to show our appreciation to God.

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It is the believer who enjoys the act of giving who receives the approval of God and His manifest love.

God’s Guarantee

God offers forth His guarantee that He is able and wiling to meet our every need if we will give according to His plan.

We need not fear to give what God has asked for He has promised to take care of us and He is certainly able to keep his promise!

When we prioritize giving to the work of God properly we will not lack in any other area receiving provision from God to meet our needs. God meets our needs so that we may be able to better serve Him in “every good work”.

Paul quotes - a description of those who do not hoard what God has given but are willing to give of what God has given them.

It is God who ultimately supplies the seed and then gives us the privilege to sow that seed into His harvest.

The principle that is revealed in - is that God has given us enough to meet our own needs and to be able to give to others.

God has promised that He will multiply what we have sown into His harvest. We may think “What could my $20 accomplish for missions?” Yet God multiplies the seed that is sown by faithful believers to provide for the needs of thousands of missionaries all around the world!

God is then glorified because of the work that is done around the world for the cause of Christ which impacts millions of lives!

There is much thanksgiving to God today for the work that has been done among people who would not otherwise have heard the gospel were it not for the missionary who came to their land.