Key #1 – God Owns Everything
Exodus 36:5-7
• The people were so excited and full of joy to serve the Lord that they had to actually be restrained from giving more
• This is what giving with the right motivation will do for you
• When our motivation is the Lord and we are focused on his will, we will desire to give more and more rather than it seeming like an obligation
1 Chronicles 29:14
• David looked at what he people were giving to the Lord and was humbled
• We’re most like God when we give
• Jesus was the greatest giver of all
• Gaze upon Jesus long enough and you’ll become more of a giver
• Give long enough and you’ll become more like Jesus
• Do you truly desire to be a giver or do you give out of obligation?
• Do you give based on what you “have to” give or are you constantly looking for ways to reduce “your salary” so that you can give more to God’s Kingdom?
2 Corinthians 8:1
• How did they respond to God’s grace?
• They responded by giving to Christians in need
2 Corinthians 8:-9
• Jesus’ grace defines, motivates, and puts in perspective our giving
• Our giving is a reflexive response to the grace of God in our lives
• The motivation for Godly giving doesn’t come out of selflessness, generosity, or benevolence
• It comes from the transforming work of Christ in us
• Our giving is the evidence of God’s grace in our lives
• His grace is the action; our giving is the reaction
• We give because he first gave to us
2 Corinthians 9:15
• Notice that this passage does not end with congratulating the Christians for their ongoing generosity
• The thanks are given to God because of his grace that was given
• As thunder follows lighting, so giving follows grace
• When God’s grace touches you, you can’t help but respond with generous giving
• Giving to God frees us
• It’s a matter of physics
• The greater the mass, the greater the hold that mass exerts
• The more things we own, the greater their total mass
• The greater the mass, the more they grip us, setting us in orbit around them and suck us in like a black hole
• Giving breaks us out of the orbit around our possessions
• We escape their gravity and enter a new orbit around God’s will and his Kingdom
• Giving can bring us closer to God than anything else because it goes a long way in removing the pull that the world can have on us
• Have you decided to give generously because of the grace that God has shown you in your life?
• Have you already determined to live according to God’s will over your own when it comes to your finances? If you have yet to do that completely, how might your life look differently as you determine to do that?
Convictions
• What is your goal in giving this year? Have you thought about it or do you just give basically what you’ve always given?
• Do you think of all that God has done for you when determining the amount that you will give to him in return or do you just tend to give the minimum or close to it to fulfill your “obligations”?
• Spend some time praying and developing realistic but radical goals to specifically increase your giving over the next year, the next five years, and even the next ten.
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It is good to go back to the root of why we give: We give becuase God first gave to us. When I think about giving more, I typically think about faith: how God always takes care of our needs when we increase our giving. This is more focused on me having and less on what God has given.
ReplyDeleteI'm truly challenged by the idea that my friend Justin from South Africa put forth which is that we're most like God when we're giving. Giving is not my native language. If left to my natural devices I tend to hoard resources, posessions, time, etc.
ReplyDeleteKnowing that giving is a virtue that can be worked at and developed through constant practice, I wonder if anyone has come up with some creative ways to practice their giving on a regular basis and grown in that area.
should it be 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles doesn't make fit. For me I must say that I go back and forth from giving due to it being what I have always done to giving with a glad heart. It is deffenitly hard when I have friends and family that create a large mass around themselves and not to want that for my family also. When we have made the decision to give out of love for God he has always taken care of us. The thing that helps me is knowing that God gave me the money and time first.
ReplyDeleteIt is more blessed to give. It is all God's and it is good for me to remember that always. It is like an orbit. That analogy was really good and I never looked at it like that before. When we want, want, want it is the viscious cycle that continues to pull at us. It's true, when we give the more we want to give. It feeds the Holy Spirit and then it's like the Holy Spirit takes over the sinful nature. I think remembering why we do it is important. Remembering Christ on the cross and all the sacrifices that were made for us despite of who we are. . .unworthy sinners. For me remembering that my giving needs to be seen by no one is also important. My giving can start stemming from the wrong motive when that happens. It never needs to be about a contest. Others may not see how we give on a regular basis and that is OK. If we always remember that God sees it all. We have such a wonderful gift within each of us(the Holy Spirit), that will continue to convict each of us in the area that we need convicted in. It's funny how he works. He usually won't quit tapping until we listen. That is how it has shown true for me anyway.
ReplyDeleteTo me giving is closely tied to planning. I think that I enjoy giving, but I do not like planning. I get caught looking at the account after the money has been divvied up. Then it becomes a matter of what is left as opposed to what I want to give. I continue to grow in this area but I have plenty of room for improvement.
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