What’s “a lot of money” to you? It’s all relative isn’t it? To some, it’s $20. To another was quizzing a young man over what he would do with certain amount of money. What would he do with $100? Spend it. How about $1000? Spend it. Maybe $10,000? INVEST it! What’s the difference? Investing pays dividends. Something comes back. Spending is like trading for something, but investing is storing up for the future. The ladder is what we should see our monetary giving to God’s Church as.
Most people have felt for years that “all the Church is interested in is my money”. It is my feeling that this was caused by the strong influence of the Catholic Church and their vast financial needs and holdings. Not to bash Catholicism, but they have been a major player in religion around the globe and have placed a lot of pressure on people to give money over giving their lives to God. There are many outstanding sections of the Bible that motivate us to sacrifice financially for God’s purposes. Paul to the Christians in Corinth he writes 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 – Now regarding your question about the money being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem. You should follow the same procedure I gave to the churches in Galatia. On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. This directive indicates planning in how we handle the money that God has sent our way. It’s intentional & pre-meditated, not a last-minute thing or after-thought. It is essential that we view what we have to control in life as provided by God. James tells us this… James 1:17 – Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father. Now that we’ve established that all we have to “manage” comes from God and He expects us to set some aside for His purposes through His Church, the question becomes…HOW MUCH?
Figures fly around. If you call it your “tithe”, then that word means 10%. 10% of our gross or net (what we bring home)? I’m quite confident that 10% of our net would thrill God since the average % from God’s people currently sets at 3%. Given that we all are very much heavily invested in ourselves and our hobbies and entertainments (me included), I feel a good place to start is by giving enough to your Church that to give that amount you’d have to sacrifice SOMETHING in your life. Maybe just a cheaper version of something…1 less meal out each week ($25-30 a week…$100-120 a month more to God). He is worth that, right?
So what’s valuable to you? A certain person? Understood. A certain group of people? Family, friends & God? John 3:16-17 – This is how much God loved (US) the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one (US included) need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone (including US) can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it (you are) was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Such a deed puts value on us…one way to mirror that value is to be generous toward Him.
Leave a Reply