I spend every Sunday with my mom.
After church, I drive over to her house, and we share lunch. I usually pick something up on the way or, if I’m very lucky, she makes me her delicious egg salad.
Words cannot express how precious these times are to me. Putting aside the emotions and stresses of the week, focusing on someone else brings a sense of relief.
Sometimes I help her with the computer or balance her checkbook. Other times, we just sit and talk.
She claims I bless her, but I’m the one blessed. See how that works? In God’s economy, the blesser also receives a blessing.
We almost always associate Giving with money. And certainly, without the sacrificial tithing of Believers, the church could not accomplish His work. But Giving is so much more than filling the church coffers.
Consider Isaiah 58.
“Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet they seek Me daily, And delight to know My ways, As a nation that did righteousness, And did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God.
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’” (Isa 58:1-3)
In this passage, Israel is complaining to God because He hasn’t blessed them, even though they have kept the ordinances of God. They have fasted and ‘afflicted’ their souls. Yet God rebukes them. Why?
Because the sacrifice He wants is charity and compassion. Not a mindless obedience focused on receiving something for ourselves.
“For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” (Hos 6:6; Matt 9:13, 12:7)
God wants the kind of sacrificial giving that:
Seeks justice for the oppressed. (Isa 58:6)
Shares our bread with the hungry and shelters those who have been cast out (v. 7)
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” (Mic 6:8)
What results from when we give to others in this way?
We glorify God and receive spiritual healing, guidance, and protection!
“Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.” (Isa 58:8)
Did you know Giving is a Spiritual Gift? Yup, it’s right there in Romans 12:8. While not all of us possess the supernatural gift of giving, we are all called to give of ourselves for the benefit of the body of Christ.
There are examples in scripture to guide us (Acts 9:36-39) but the best way? Ask God to open your eyes to the needs around you. Find a need, and fill it.
“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2Co 9:7)