Christians Are Big Givers

        The more we realize that all that we have, we have received it from a loving heavenly Father, the easier it becomes to give; then tithing becomes a gesture of appreciation, and giving to others an extension of His love. We don’t give out of our wallet, but out of His. 

        God is a BIG GIVER and wants to bless people. So the more we give to others, the more He gives to us so that His love continues flowing through us. He does want to bless us financially, but He wants us to SHARE the blessings that He gives us. He wants to prosper us so that we CAN GIVE MORE.

        There’s a danger to prosperity. It can easily lead to complacency and lack of dependence on God. God is a giver and He wants us to be givers too. Jesus said, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise,” and “go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven”. “Do not seek what you are to eat or drink.” “Seek not for yourself treasures on earth.”  “You have not because you ask amiss that you may consume it upon our own lusts.” 

       Also, when you give to the poor, it is like lending to the Lord, and the Lord will pay you back (Pro 19:17).

        There is another aspect to giving that needs to be highlighted. Paul talks a lot about his financial partners as his team. There is a “good reward” for those who partner with those who are on the frontlines. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is there your heart will also be”. That means that we can move our heart’s treasure by simply investing where it’s most important and fruitful, in the actual preaching of the Gospel and the making of disciples.

       When we support the works of God, He blesses us and the works of our hands. The law of generosity is you always reap more than you sow. We must plant by faith not by feelings. 

Let’s COMMIT to make the following verses OURS.

Lk 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

Lk 3:11 He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”

Mt 19:21 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.

Acts 20:35b It is more blessed to give than to receive.

2Cor 9:6-7 He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

Deut 15:7, 8a, 10 If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother. But you shall open your hand wide to him. You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand.

Ps 41:1 Blessed is he who considers the poor; The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

Pr 3:27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.

Pr 11:24-25 There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.

Pr 19:17 He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given.

Pr 28:16b He who hates covetousness will prolong his days.

Mt 5:42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

Mt 10:8b Freely you have received, freely give.

Mt 25:40b Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.

Phil 2:4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

1Jn 3:17-18 Whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.