As we continue to look at generosity, today I want to give you 4 points which I hope will help us to get things in perspective:
- It all belongs to God anyway
everything under heaven belongs to me - Job 41:11 (NIV)
Since God owns everything, the question we should be asking when deciding what to give; is not “How much of my money should I give to God?” but “How much of God’s money should I keep for myself?” The difference between these two questions is huge!
- God insists only on a tenth, the rest we are to steward wisely
Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, “How do we rob you?” In tithes and offerings. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. - Malachi 3:8,10 (NIV)
To rob is to steal what belongs to another, in this case, God. The tithe is not ours, it belongs to God, and when we do not bring it into the “storehouse” (Church), then we are stealing from God. We give to the Church we are planted in, that it may be properly provided for, and that God will protect us and our families from the thief (Satan), who wants to steal from us.
- Generosity is what we give away to others
Since you can only give away what belongs to you in the first place, generosity only starts after we give our tithe. Remember, the tithe is not ours to withhold, and we are only being generous when we give an offering over and above the tithe.
Remember, God is a good and generous God, he wants to bless you and to prosper you. We need to fully put our trust in God, our Jehovah Jireh - the God who provides. We need to ask God to help us, to increase our faith, and then we need to step out in faith and exercise that gift of generosity.
- Where and to whom does God want us to be generous?
We have already seen that the tithe is to be brought into God’s House, the Church. Indeed, it is through the Church that God’s Kingdom will be built. After we bring our tithe into the Church where we attend, we are then free to give to anyone else as we please. I would just say though, that we need to be wise stewards of what God has given us. There may be people in your Church that are struggling at the moment and would benefit from your help. Remember, God’s priority is always his own people i.e. those that love the Lord.
You are free to give to charity as you wish, but just make sure you know where the money is going too and how much of what you give is taken up with administration or paying salaries.
And, of course, being generous is not just about money. Next time, we will finish these messages on generosity by looking at the other ways in which we can be generous.
God bless you,
Douglas