Money and Giving
Money affects us all. We grew up knowing that everything that has value can be equated to money. From the food that we eat, clothes, transportation, things that we need inside the house and things that we need to use in school, you can have them if you have money.
Though I was raised on a farm which almost can provide for our daily food and minimal need for money, money become apparently something equated to any ambition hat you may have. If you need to go to a good school, you must have enough money to pay for the tuition fees. From such a young age, I also noticed that blessing from the Lord comes without notice. God can use people to help you even if you do not do anything deserving of that grace.
According to Psalms 24:1, it says “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it”. It simply says, all the possessions I have are the Lord’s and I am just somebody entrusted with it. God commissioned us to have dominion over the things He has created. We work to be good stewards, to make something better out of His creation.
Money and all of the possessions that we have now are therefore something entrusted to us. This is not ours but they are of the Lord’s. How to use them for His glory is the our ultimate purpose.
About Giving
We are also taught about sharing and giving for the reason to be a good person and to be of help to somebody who is in need. This is somewhat basic but no matter how basic it is, we always get bombarded by the expectation of our parents and contemporaries to strive hard and if left unguarded can shift our focus from helping to self-centeredness. We become stingy when it comes to money. We equate power with the amount of money a person has. We can be at par with our friends and colleagues by showing we can also afford things. I thank God for reminding me always that our security should be on Him. My life verses are these.
Matthew 6:24. No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Matthew 6:33. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of things shall be added unto you.
I always remind myself that God will provide all my needs as long as I prioritize Him.
According to Malachi 3:10, it says “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Test me in this says the Lord almighty and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”. Giving to the house of God, the church is a way to bring food to the church wherein the church can also provide food for people who are hungry may it be physical hunger or in need of something. Giving to the church can also open up the floodgate of blessings for us. The term used is “floodgate” because it is not just an ordinary outpour of blessing. What a wonderful promise. The tithe we are talking about is tenth of our income. It is significantly smaller compared to the flood of blessing.
The second commandment Jesus gave is to love our neighbor. We cannot love our neighbor if we are not sold out to giving. We cannot hide the fact that many people are really in need. Our neighbors are not only those that are close to us or a friend of ours. They are anybody.
I just came to read a good concept of R. Paul Stevens in the book “Taking your Soul to Work” to “Break the power of greed by giving”. He indicated the one deadly sin in the workplace (and even outside it) is greed – the wanting for more.
The famous preacher John Wesley once said “Gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can”.
Giving should be an essential part of our Christian lives. There are some non-believers that are givers and yet God blesses them so much in many ways. God is true to His promise.
