Giving Promotes Thanksgiving
In the last part of October, I preached messages in a three-part series entitled, Possessed by Possessions. This series was about contentment and how to be satisfied amid troubling times. The theme was how we are not to let any earthly gains or losses rule us and determine our happiness. The apostle Paul encourages us in Colossians 3 to set our affections on things above and not the things of this world. In Philippians 4, he tells us the things we are to think about so that troubles do not bother us and cause us to lose hope and be depressed. He says if we think properly, the God of peace will be with us.
One of the major issues discussed in the series is the way money causes us to lose our focus on God. I want to return to this thought for just a moment to show how money can be the cause of more focus on God rather than the cause of losing focus. Our money can be turned into usefulness in the Lord’s service which causes us to look to God for ways we can help promote His kingdom. In an uncertain economy, many will hold back resources and put them securely away where we think they cannot be lost. We restrict our giving until we see a surer path that promises a secure future. The Lord warns that this will not work. Safe investments fail, savings accounts can be obliterated by catastrophic illness or accident, and a mattress or a hole in the ground is neither safe. Holding back tithes and offerings is not a way to build wealth.
A few weeks ago, I read these lines in TableTalk magazine: “In truth, sometimes we fail to give because we fear that in giving, we will suffer net loss. Yet if the Lord Himself gives abundantly, we need not fear we will suffer lack when we give to help others with generosity.” Seedtime and harvest principles are taught in 2 Corinthians 9 which declare that it is impossible to lose with God. TableTalk further commented, “Paul has the material needs of impoverished believers in mind most significantly in 2 Corinthians 8-9, but the principle certainly applies beyond that. Our giving to the work of the church and the care of its members will always result in a net gain for us.” This is biblical truth which I challenge you to compare to the guarantee of the stock market or any worldly investment. An investment with guaranteed positive returns is usually a Ponzi scheme. Surely, we can see hording money with a promise it will secure us is the devil’s Ponzi scheme.
Returning to my earlier premise, our money can cause us to focus on the Lord when we are determined to use it to help others and the church which He commissioned to accomplish His work in the world. The Lord promises to secure us and add to our wealth in immeasurable ways. As we place our offering envelopes in the plate, are we not focusing on the Lord as we worship Him? Our motivation of obedience in giving is not wrong if it also includes testing the Lord as our financial advisor. It is not wrong to focus on securing our financial well-being through this method. However, we do not advocate for a prosperity gospel or that the Lord any more promises expensive automobiles than your honest financial advisor does. The difference is the unfailing promise of net gain. As the old saying goes, you cannot outgive the Lord.
How do we increase our thanksgiving as well? One last quote: “…we will be blessed far more than we can imagine when we seek to imitate the generosity of the Lord. This in turn will increase thanksgiving to God…” In conclusion, underline this in your Bible:
2 Corinthians 9:7, 9-11 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth forever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) Being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.
Pastor V. Mark Smith