UNDERSTANDING THE RIGHT MOTIVES OF GIVING!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY MAY 21, 2021.

SUBJECT : UNDERSTANDING THE RIGHT MOTIVES OF GIVING!

Memory verse: "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have no love, it profits me nothing." (First Corinthians 13 vs 3.)

READ: Second Corinthians 9 vs 6 - 8:

9:6: But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 

9:7: So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

9:8: And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

INTIMATION:

God evaluated both our motives and the quality of what we offer Him. When we give to God and others, we should have a joyful heart because of what we are able to give. We should not worry about how much we are giving up, for all things are God’s in the first place. Instead, we should joyfully give to God our best in time, money, possessions, and talents. God loves cheerful givers. Our giving should be from love and generosity, not from a guilty conscience. Always review what God has done for you. Has he blessed you with enough to meet your daily needs? Thank Him, and then cheerfully give so others’ needs can be met. Learn the joy of giving wholeheartedly to God.

Some people have been giving faithfully for a long time, but they've been doing it with a wrong motives. For instance, they've been taught they should tithe out of obligation and they've just been paying a bill, or they've been doing it to appease God. That kind of giving benefits the church you are giving to, but it isn't going to benefit you in this life. You won't get returns on that giving. You have to plant your financial seed with a cheerful heart, motivated by love, because your gift is ruined when you give with the wrong motive.

In the passage we read today, the apostle Paul makes it clear that your motive counts. It says we should not give "grudgingly, or of necessity." If the reason you give offering and pay tithe is because you don't want to be under a curse, then you are paying out of necessity and it isn't cheerful. It is paying hush money to God. The Scripture tells us not to give grudgingly or of necessity because God loves a cheerful giver. The dominant motive for giving under the New Covenant should be a cheerful heart. We should be giving because we want to. Your giving must be out of love for Him and for all He has done, and is doing for you—a response to God’s magnanimity in your life. Giving out of fear is the same thing as giving "grudgingly," and giving out of manipulation and condemnation is the same as giving "of necessity." Giving with those motives profits you nothing. 

The apostle Paul, in Second Corinthians 9, ends his teaching on giving by saying, "Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift" (vs 15). Some translations say "indescribable gift." This summarizes why we should give back to the Lord under the New Covenant: because He has already given us beyond measure. God has provided everything for us, and our giving is actually an expression of appreciation for all that He has done for us. It goes back to the Scripture in our memory verse that says nothing we do is of any benefit unless it is motivated by love. Again the motive behind our gift is more important than our gift.

The only giving that is acceptable to God is that which you purpose in your own heart and give cheerfully—not grudgingly or of necessity. You aren't going to buy prosperity from God, or force Him into blessing you, just like you don't need to pay Him protection money to keep the curse of the law out of your life. All of that is manipulation and condemnation, and giving with those motivations profits you nothing. Give as a response of joy and love for God. And let your giving be a matter of rejoicing rather than duty.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You for Your indescribable gifts freely given to us. No one knows Your mind to instruct You. O Lord, endue me with the mind of Christ that I may do all things out of love for You, and for my neighbor, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!