If ever there is a subject that can almost be guaranteed to make people feel uncomfortable, to roll their eyes then what I am going to write about is that subject.
You see I am going to write about generosity, about money.
Why do we get touchy when Pastors start speaking about money?
I think for some of the following reasons:
It is a deeply personal subject.
We equate money with freedom.
We earnt our money it is ours to decide what to do with it.
Money affects our mood, our happiness, struggling to pay the bills and we can feel under pressure, we feel stressed. Have spare cash you find yourself walking with a spring in your step.
Society has a saying doesn’t it: Money makes the world go round.
Do you know what I used to experience all of these feelings, have all of these thoughts, even when I became a follower of Jesus. Me and money where not and are not best friends.
God knows that we will struggle with this subject.
Bible scholars tell us that the Bible contains around 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, but around 2,000 verses on money and possessions.
Now you could say that is because the church wants your money!
No, it is because God knows how dangerous money can be to a person:
1 Timonthy 6: 9-10
9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
We run this risk of money and the things it can buy us becoming an idol, having power of us.
When we love money, it can cause us to do bad things. Tax evasion, theft, deceit at one end of the extreme. Becoming a workaholic to earn more money at the expense of family. Resentment.
Now I want to be clear money is neither good nor bad.
It is what place it takes in your life that makes the difference.
To me there is antidote, a way to protect against money becoming an evil influence in your life, and that is generosity.
I want to share with you that generosity is biblical, and we are given the ultimate example in the bible.
Being generous is a choice.
How generous we are is a choice, but the bible does offer guidance.
God, the creator of the universe demonstrates generosity:
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
We see in this verse that God gave His son, if you know the full story that meant that Jesus would eventually die on the cross, paying the price for yours and my sins.
So, why do we get worried about giving. One reason is we worry will our needs be met?
God will meet our needs:
Matthew 6:31-32
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
We can see here that God is generous to us, our response needs to be that of generosity.
When it comes to teaching about being generous the following verses contain so much biblical gold so to speak that we can take a number of principles from them:
Proverbs 3:9
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce;
2 Corinthians 9:7
7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Verse 11
11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
1 Corinthians 16:2
On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
Principle 1:
Give to God first.
Too often we think about our giving as the last thing we do, Proverbs 3:9 encourages us to do our giving first.
Principle 2:
It’s a heart response not a compulsion.
2 Corinthians 9:7 tells us to give not out of compulsion, giving should be heart response to what God has done for and give to us.
Principle 3:
God gives to us so we can be generous.
2 Corinthians 9:11 tells us God gives to us so we can share with others.
Principle 4:
The glory goes to God (stops us getting proud)
2 Corinthians 9:11 also tells us that our generosity should lead people to give thanks to God not us.
Principle 5:
Giving should be planned and prepared for.
1 Corinthians 16:2 shows us the principle of planning, of thinking about our giving rather than it only being a spur of the moment thing.
To watch Pastor Adam’s message on Generosity, go to: https://youtube.com/live/Ku6AybwhYiA?feature=share
