Supernatural Gifts of Grace
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4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
Supernatural Gift of Giving
Seeing resources
These gifts are for all of us to develop, but God gives a supernatural gift.
To spend and be spent
givers become the gift
• Able to see resources
A giver has an ability to His discern wise investments. His motivation is to use assets of time, money, and possessions to advance the work of the Lord. If a person with the gift of giving has
limited funds, he is still able to use his ability to recognize Of available resources and draw upon them when needed.
• Invest self with gift
A giver needs continuous reassurance that his decisions
are in God's will whether he has little or much to give. To achieve
this, he will first give himself and then his gift to the Lord. Since all
believers must practice giving, Paul explained how the Macedonians first gave their own
selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God" (II Corinthians 8:5),
• Desire to give high-quality gifts
The giver's ability to discern value motivates him to
provide quality gifts. He wants them to last. Matthew recorded
in greater detail than any other Gospel writer the gifts given to
Christ. He is the only writer who mentioned "the treasures" he brought by the Magi;
he described Mary's ointment as "very precious and Joseph's tomb as new
(See Matthew 2:11
11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
7 There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.
8 But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?
9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.
10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.
11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
and 27:57-60.)
• Hope gift answers prayer
A giver who is in fellowship with the Lord will be prompted to give even when a
need is not obvious. His ultimate confirmation that this gift was according to God's will
comes when he learns that it fulfilled an unknown need or answered a special prayer.
• Desire to give secretly
Just as the giver looks to the Lord for direction, so he wants recipients to look to the
Lord for provision. The giver knows that future reward is more valuable than present
praise, thus he will give quietly and often anonymously. Matthew is the only Gospel
writer who emphasized secret giving. (See Matthew 6:1-4
1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
A Spirit-filled giver wants God to receive the glory.
It’s a wonderful blessing to
Don’t give to impress people to be seen.
• Concern that giving will corrupt
A mature giver understands the destructiveness of the love of money. He is
very aware that the disciplines that God taught him in acquiring assets may not have
been learned by those who need his assistance. Therefore, he looks for ways of giving that
avoid dependency, slothfulness, or extravagance.
In the first century church, there was horrible persecution that affected their jobs and income.
• Exercise personal thriftiness
The personal assets that the giver has are often the result of consistent personal
frugality while being content with basics. A giver will always be concerned about getting the
best buy, not with how much he has left. He will spend extra effort on saving money and
being resourceful with what he has.
• Use gifts to multiply giving
The motivation of a giver is to encourage others to give. He wants them to experience
the joy and spiritual growth that comes from sacrificial giving. Thus, the giver may provide
matching funds or the last payment in order to encourage others to give.
• Confirm amount with counsel
A giver reacts to pressure appeals. He looks instead for financial needs that others
tend to overlook.
A husband who has the gift of giving will often confirm the amount that he
should give by seeing if his wife has the same amount in mind
Misuses - Operating in the flesh
• Hoarding resources for self
Effective use of the gift of giving depends upon having
the fear of the Lord. One way we learn the fear of the Lord is by
regular giving. It was for this purpose that the tithe was
established. (See Deuteronomy 14:22-23
22 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.
23 And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.
If a giver stops
exercising his gift, he will not only begin to lose the fear of the Lord,
but his storing up will cause him to become stagnant.
Your tithe will never finance what this church needs to accomplish.
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be meat in mine house, And prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, If I will not open you the windows of heaven, And pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
God uses our giving to open the window to His blessings
Not to provide for ministry but to learn to fear the Lord
When our family tithes we learn to fear the Lord
Why - we don’t fear the Lord
Everything I own belongs to the Lord
• Using gifts to control people
A giver has a desire to make sure that his gifts are wisely
invested and used. Thus, he will often buy a good quality item
rather than giving the money for it. However, if items are purchased
or projects are sponsored by a giver, he may be viewed as using
his gifts to control lives and ministries.
When giving to this ministry, you give unto the Lord.
• Forcing higher living standards
If a giver's focus is more on the quality of the gift than the
need that it is meeting, he can cause the receiver to be dissatisfied
with the quality of other things which he owns.
A giver could also excuse personal luxuries on the basis that he is generous with
his money. However, when he is not faithful in little, God will not
trust him with much.
• Feeling guilty about personal assets
A giver who is not in fellowship with the Lord will begin to feel guilt as he stores up
funds. Even if he is preparing for a special need, he must have the reassurance from the
Lord that his plans are according to God's will.
• Rejecting pressure appeals
If a giver reacts to all appeals for funds and looks only for the hidden and unannounced
needs, he may fail to get the mind of the Lord in a particular situation. He may also miss an
important opportunity to give wise counsel as well as needed funds to a worthy ministry.
• Giving too sparingly to family
The frugality of a giver is often extended to his own wife and children. However, if he
does not show the same concern, care, and delight in meeting their needs as he does
others, they will react to his generosity. By listening to the Lord and the counsel of his
wife, he will a avoid the damaging consequences of unwise gifts or investments.
• Giving to projects vs. people
If a giver loses his focus on meeting the needs of people, he may be unduly attracted
to projects. His desire for measuring value may prompt him to build a "memorial to his
generosity." The emphasis of Scriptural giving is distributing to the necessity of saints. Paul's
collection was for the needy Christians.
• Causing people to look to him vs. God
When a giver lets others know what he is giving, he will cause many to turn their attention
from the Lord to him. He also runs the danger of attracting carnal
Christians with wrong motives. These people are trained to appeal
to his human inclinations and extract funds that were not directed by the Lord.
• Waiting too long to give
If a giver is not instantly obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, he may lose the joy of seeing God accomplish a miraculous provision through him. The one who was to receive the gift will also be denied the opportunity of seeing God provide funds precisely when needed.