Christian Living

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Why do you give? What do you give and to whom? How you answer these questions may be different from what the Bible teaches.

Here is my all-inclusive definition. Giving is using our finances, time, abilities, passions, purpose, and spiritual gifts for the benefit of others and to help advance the Kingdom of God.

Too often, giving is thought of only in terms of money and limited to just the local church. As important as money is, and I applaud the people who support our local churches through tithing, there are probably many Christians who really do not have the means to give financially, but these people still have a heart for God. Their heart is in supporting a family and even that might be a sacrifice. For example, take a young single mother supporting several kids and living on a minimum wage job. Is anyone going to tell her that she should give 10 percent of her income to her local church? The point I want to make is to try to give something, financially, but also realize there are many other ways to give.

Why should people give? It bothers me that there is so much emphasis on giving in order to be blessed, or worse yet, just so we can take a tax deduction.

We are to give in consideration of the helpless (Psalm 41:1-3), by doing "good deeds" to meet pressing needs, as stated in Titus 3:14, and to meet the needs of people all around us, if we have the "world's goods." (I John 3:14) These situations do not emphasize money, and in many cases, money may not be necessary at all.

So, we are to give not only to our local churches and other organizations, but to our neighbors in need and to the helpless, in any way that we can with our finances, time, abilities, passions, purpose, or spiritual gifts.

Here is the clincher: It is easy to give out of abundance, but how many people would willingly give sacrificially? And yet, the Bible teaches this. Read the story of the poor widow in Mark 12: 41-44.

We are to give without "closing our hearts," toward those around us. I believe this means not to make excuses. (I John 3:14) We should give expecting nothing in return, however, blessing will follow, because the Bible teaches the principle of sowing and reaping, but even this may not be in the form of money or material wealth.

But why are Christians looking for more and more blessings? We have salvation. If you have food, clothing, water, a place to stay, a car to drive, good health, and a job, then you are truly blessed. If you are lacking any of the above then you have a reason to ask for more. If not, then start giving so others can be blessed.

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