Giving

God has really been challenging my heart the past few weeks about giving. I look around me and am saddened by things I see and hear. I see so many people who are blessed beyond belief who continue to consume more instead of sharing. I see people spending and spending and giving very little. It breaks my heart. After traveling to countries like Honduras and Africa and seeing children literally eating out of dumpsters, such behavior admittedly frustrates me. It hurts my heart for those around the world, even in our own communities, who are doing without while we continue to multiply our wealth.

I know I say wealth, and most of you will sit there and think to yourselves that you aren’t wealthy. Trust me, you are wealthy! We live in a part of the world that is so blessed. So much of the world looks at us with envy and jealousy; even hatred, because we have so much. We spend and spend. We go in debt buying things we can’t afford. Look at our nation. Look around you. Credit card debit is going through the roof and the national debt is an unfathomable 14.3 billion dollars. We are a rich people who can’t handle all that we have. Perhaps we could handle our wealth better if we gave it away…

I know, I know… You’re still thinking you’re not one of the wealthy or rich ones. You’re imagining those around you with bigger homes, televisions, better computers and phones, newer cars, etc. You don’t have to wonder where your next meal is coming from though, do you? You have a roof over your head. You go to the doctor when you need to. You even have a car to drive. In Rwanda they consider anyone with a car to be rich, and they are right. We need to open our eyes and see just how rich we are. More importantly, we need to gain new perspective. We need to see that God hasn’t blessed us so we would become a selfish, greedy people. He has blessed us, a nation where 85% of the population claims to be Christians (About.com) to bless a lost and dying world where men, women, children, widows, and widowers are without food, shelter, and clothing.

As I write, I can’t help but think about the parable of the widow’s mites that is mentioned in Mark and Luke. Mark 12: 41-44 says, “⁴¹ Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. ⁴² Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. ⁴³ So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; ⁴⁴ for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood”(NKJV).

God has been challenging my heart about this very thing the past few weeks. He’s been seeing what and how much I’m willing to give. I pray I’ve passed the tests that have been placed before me. I want to challenge you though. Are you the rich men or are you the widow woman in this story? If God told you to give away your entire paycheck this week; would you do it? If He told you to give it to people in need whom you’ve never met; would you do it? Would you put hungry children here in the U.S. and in foreign lands ahead of your own wants and desires? Would you give all you made last week and this week and the next week? Would you do without so others could live? Would you do without to simply show them the love of God? Would you be willing to show a world without hope that someone does love and care for them?

The widow woman… I can picture it in my mind. I can picture her walking to the front in tattered clothing across a dirt floor with her two mites in a tightly closed fist. I picture her slowly and humbly walking before the Lord to drop in her two mites. Chances are that she wasn’t sure where her next meal would come from. She certainly didn’t have the home and riches that we are accustomed to. She certainly wasn’t going through the drive-thru like we do. Even if she could, she no longer had the money! This woman had a heart of love though. She had a giving heart. She had a heart like Jesus wants us all to have.

Matthew 6:34 says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things...” I don’t think the widow woman worried about tomorrow. I believe she had that much faith in her God. She lived for that day and that moment. She knew what she needed to do, and she did it knowing and trusting that God would continue to provide for her.

I can picture the rich men around her. I can picture them in their nice clothes and nice perfumes. I can picture them going up to give with a “look at me” attitude. Not the widow woman though. She didn’t give to be acknowledged or recognized. She gave simply because it was the right thing to do. She offered not only her money, but I believe she offered her entire being to the Lord when she gave all she had. My, how we could all learn from this parable. We need to have that kind of faith and trust. It is on my heart to be more like that widow woman. Is it in yours?

Deuteronomy 16:7 says, Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you”. I’m guessing some of you are sitting there thinking that I’m only required to give 10%. Think about it though. Really think about it... Are you able to give more? Could you stop doing so much for self and start doing for others? Could you do more to support missions, orphans, the homeless, the helpless, hungry children in your community, etc.? I challenge you to really examine your heart and life. I know I have been.

God has called us to be different. He doesn’t want us to be like everyone else. The world may settle for mediocrity. We are the children of God though. We are not meant to settle for that. We are meant to do all we can. We are meant to give all He can. Jesus gave all of Himself for you… What are you willing to give for Him? What are you willing to give to each suffering person around you and around the world? All of those people, no matter what color their skin is and no matter what language they speak, are His beautiful creation too. 

I don’t know who is going to read this. I don’t know what you may do for a living. I don’t know what you may make in a week, a month, or in a year. It doesn’t matter to me. God knows though. God knows because He’s the one who has blessed you with that job and that money. I don’t know what you do with your money. I don’t know if this scripture speaks to anyone other than me… I just pray that somehow these words that He has put on my heart will touch you and inspire you. I pray that you open yourself up to letting Him speak into your heart and life. I pray that you would let Him use you in ways that you’ve never allowed him to before.

Give… “You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand” (Deuteronomy 15:10)… Give to Him with a joyful heart. “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed” (2 Corinthians 9:6-8). God, the creator of you, I, and the entire universe, gave His only son for you. What are you willing to give and do for Him?