Christian Living
Luke 6:38 - Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
The summer is proving to be a lot busier than I anticipated. What happened to my goals of getting organized and being relaxed? They’ve gotten gobbled up with responsibility and obligation. Time has begun to feel like an enemy. Even when I’ve learned how important it is to spend some alone time with God each day, I still let “things” crowd out that most important allotted time; even when I’ve learned that tithing my time reaps the same benefit as tithing my income.
Have you ever noticed that when you do spend time with God somehow the day goes smoother; things get done, or become unnecessary to do? But, when you don’t spend time with God, there is just never enough time in the day. I’ve experienced the same thing in my finances. When I didn’t tithe things were tight, regardless of how much income existed. But, after I started tithing, the struggle loosened. It defies logic – human logic, that is. But it is a biblical principal “to give and it shall be given unto you.” It is interesting to see that even those financial advice books written for the general population all include a chapter that basically expounds on this biblical principal. It is a spiritual law that is recognized universally.
On the flip side of tithing (or giving) is being a good receiver. I know people who just absolutely find it impossible to “receive.” To any compliment you might hear, “O, this old thing?” Or to a gift you might get the reply of “you shouldn’t have” or that they “simply can’t accept it.” There are others that I know who are tally keepers. The one who keeps a running score in their head and has to make sure they give back to you exactly what you gave to them: lunch for lunch, gift for gift, amount for the same amount. One dear person in my life gets right down offended by any attempt of giving to her. She doesn’t take it as a loving gesture, but as a statement of her inadequacy. It’s really quite heartbreaking to not be allowed to show love for another person. Then some, who have lived through the depression or had a very poor childhood grow up having trouble giving because of their fear of not having enough left for themselves.
The way we give and receive with each other is an exact indication of how we give to and receive from God. Some people can give to God freely, but can’t receive His blessings as freely because they don’t feel worthy. Thank God, His giving to us is not based on us being worthy. His desire to bless us is based on His love toward us (not the reverse). The bible says that God never changes, so we can rest assured that He doesn’t want to bless us one day and then change His mind the next.
Some may have trouble giving to God because they aren’t sure they’ll get anything out of it. Having a busy summer, such as mine, it would be easy to think other things have to take priority over giving to God. A hectic schedule has no time for God, and financial obligations and a troublesome economy leaves no room to give to God. This is absolutely logical. But, God’s principals defy our human logic.
It is at this point that we have to make a decision to walk in faith and believe the word of God. Don’t look at the list of 20 things on your schedule and let it rule you. Don’t look at the economic projections and let that rule over you. Look at the word of God; it says if we give it shall be given. Faith will walk in what the word says even when it doesn’t look logical. Faith will say: “I will give and I can trust that what I need will be taken care of when I need it, because that is what the word of God says.”
We can be good givers and good receivers; because we can’t out give God. Whatever we give to Him in time, money, and deeds He will honor and give back; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together and running over.
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