Each man should give what he has
decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God
loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7
The heart of your giving outweighs the monetary value of the
actual gift… The word of God tells us that God
looks at the heart and this is not only true in dealing with the motives of
people’s actions according to their lifestyle, this is also how gifts are
weighed when laid before Him… So many churches always push the 10% for offering
and I of the belief that this only happens because they don’t believe their
respective bodies are giving enough; however, it is in today’s focus verse that
we are taught what the true gift is (which comes from in our heart and not our
pocket)…. Paul’s letter to the church of
Corinth provides the giving instructions that we are to abide by within the
statues of Christ! So many have tried to misuse the word of God to reap
monetary gain in the church, they quote the Old Testament and the rule of 10%, it
is here in this scripture that we must come to the realization that God desires
a heartfelt offering, not a giving by requirement… All things that happened in
the Old Testament pointed to the coming Messiah, now that Jesus has come to
save we are no longer subject to the law, but under the grace of God… Jesus
came no to Abolish the Law, but to fulfill it… We could not observe the law and
continued to fall short all the way back to the Garden of Eden, thus Jesus came
and opened the door to Salvation which begins in the heart of man… The heart is where Salvation is made
possible and also is the core focus of what God looks at… Paul reminds us
today that we give not of necessity, but because of the Grace that God has
given unto us through the offering of His son… When we say we are giving, I am
of the mindset that this isn’t something we are compelled to do, but something
that we should be moved to do… When you have a heart for God, you are in awe of
all the things that He has done and is doing for you; when this is a part of
you, you then give simply because of His goodness and not because you are
forced… When I see something that moves me, I feel a since of eagerness to
extend my hand… In Christ, we should all feel that eagerness as nothing should
have moved you more than His outstretched arms and the blood flowing from His
body… The bible tells us that One day Jesus was standing by the treasury of the
temple observing the gifts people brought. (This
proves to us today that Jesus observes our giving and the manner in which we
give it). Several big name Pharisee’s and Jews came by and put their
“significant” offerings into the basket; after some time had passed A widow
woman came along and put in two copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.
Given the offering that has been made, most would conclude that the Pharisee’s
had given much and that the women must be on hard times and devalued her
giving; however, Jesus says that this woman on a fixed income contributed more
than all the big givers that preceded her.
If you ask the question how, Jesus
provides the answer… "All these
people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in
all she had to live on." (Luke 21:4) The principle that Jesus taught
and Paul reminds us of today is simple; it’s not the size of your gift that
matters as much as the size of your heart for God! Each man should give what he
decides in his heart, your offering may be less than mine, but could be more
powerful and will be more powerful when it comes from the heart! Another
example of this is the story of Cain and Able, the bible says that by FAITH,
Able presented a better sacrifice… If you believe in the power of God, and the
authority that resides within His hands, if you understand that He is Alpha and
Omega, than you can give from your heart
while standing on Faith that God never fails!
Paul is not encouraging the giving
aspect, but the faith-based initiative that dwells in giving! We shouldn’t give
because God desires this or that, we shouldn’t give because we have be trained
to do so, we shouldn’t give because of the requirements written in the law,
this is not what Christ desires… We should give because we believe in God’s
faithfulness, we should give because we have seen and bore witness to His
bountiful blessings, we should give because we know that He said that He will supply all our needs according to His riches;
however, we should give not expecting to be blessed but knowing that we are
already blessed because He gave of Himself for us… We should give out of
love and consideration towards others… God loves a cheerful giver, if you are
not happy in giving, if you are worried about how you could have used your
offering towards something else; guess what, God doesn’t want it and even
though you may have given it anyway, He will not receive it as the offering
which you gave because the love and sincerity is missing!
BE
BLESSED!!!
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