Christian Giving; The Motivation

2 Corinthians 9:10‭-‬11 (NKJV)“Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.”

Next week I’ll post another article on giving but today,let’s refer to this old post. If you missed last week’s post, read it here. Next week, I’ll post.

When I started paying attention in church, I was a teenager. I had so many unanswered questions because I was born again and somehow, many teachings didn’t sit well with me even though I didn’t have any scripture to defend against them. You must be wondering how then I knew that it was wrong, well I have the Spirit of God like other believers… I probably just didn’t ignore the nudging… Some of the words were so accurate but the spirit was not right (of course I didn’t understand these things then).One of the things I was not comfortable with was the concept of giving, which forms a major part of the exhibition of the love in the heart of a believer.

Oh dear!! A lot of things were taught but there was always one central message or spirit… “Give so that it shall be given unto you. Give so that you shall receive”.

I heard those words so much that whenever I needed something, I figured it was time to give. In fact, I was taught that what I need exactly is what I must give/sow. I remember a vivid example of a person who “sowed” a tie and got so many ties back (I’m not saying this is not true). I gave and gave and gave… At the end of the month, comparing what I gave with what I received… My account never balanced. It never balanced because I had given more than I received and still…or at least that’s what I thought however in my spirit, it felt like I was owing more “giving”

Oh yes I was owing more giving because, in truth, I was sowing nothing in the spirit but everything in the flesh.

Beloved, I found it very difficult to give bountifully, I always sowed sparingly… I could perceive it in my heart that I was sowing sparingly no matter how much I gave, no matter how much I danced “cheerfully” to give it… Now I know why I couldn’t give bountifully. Those teachings turned me away from the grace of Jesus which makes me give bountifully.

Listen to me friend… No matter how much you give, how huge you give it, how consistent, bountifulness is judged in the Spirit behind your giving (ask the widow who gave her mite). Why do you give? To receive? Is that scripture? No!!! It is not scripture. “Oh Rowland, I think you’ve got this one wrong because the scripture did say we will receive when we give“.No I haven’t gotten it wrong. I know the scriptures say we will receive when we give but it didn’t say that is why we should give… Our selfishness made receiving the motivation for giving.

Let me lay out two points from Jesus’ teachings that will make you understand that receiving something you need is not the motivation for giving…

1. Matthew 6:19-21. Jesus was teaching us not to lay up treasures on the earth and in further scriptures, He teaches to lay them up in heaven. How? That will be point 2.

2. Matthew 19:21. The rich young ruler was told to sell all he had and give to the poor and “…then you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me.” Do you see that my friend? You therefore can not be giving because of the material reward. Although receiving is an effect of giving, it is not the motivation for giving.

side attraction: I noticed most times when giving was spoken about, an adverb “freely” was always added… The freedom is from your heart… Some of us give and in our hearts, God’s name just entered your debtors book…that’s not freely.

Let me scream it louder… “You don’t give to receive, you receive to give, 2 Corinthians 9:11”

So what is the motivation for giving?

There are many blessed reasons we should give (receiving is not one of them because giving is supposed to be selfless and “freely”) but I’d like to highlight just two of them here. Let’s take the first from Matthew 10:42

Matthew 10:42 (KJV)
“And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

“WOW!!! It needs no further explanation…. This scripture says this is why you give “because he’s a follower of Jesus“… What happens is that there is a reward but that’s not what motivated it.

Now, I’m not saying we give only to believers…my attention is on the motivation not the kind of person.

Listen to me, when you refuse the selfless reason for giving, you refuse grace to give bountifully.

You may receive the rewards as the Bible says but there’s an eternal reward the Bible also mentioned when Jesus spoke with the rich young ruler…friend, that’s the reward that really counts. God didn’t say “when I was hungry you gave me food and I gave you back more food”... Actually, they didn’t even know when they did those kind gestures. This shows that giving was their normal life without thinking of what they’ll get in return. “When did we see you and did these things?” they asked … They saw people who needed and they provided not because they wanted rewards (selfish) but because they saw there was a need (selfless).Let me explain it to you…

When you receive, it’s so that you have what you can give and what you need. This leads me to the second motivation.

You’ve been blessed to be a blessing… and I don’t mean material abundance and material abundance alone. I mean grace and rest… You give because you are blessed… A blessing that can’t be quantified in material things it is the overflow of that blessing that extends to the needy. I’m not talking about having so much that you have enough to spare, I’m talking about recognizing in truth that you are a blessed person, blessed with so much understanding of Christ and His love and that He commands that you give, when it comes to it, “all you have to live on” without expecting God to multiply it.

Kai… That we find pleasure only in obeying Jesus who said “it is better to give than to receive” I remember Paul acknowledging and celebrating the Macedonian brethren who in their poverty, gave bountifully and Paul never mentioned anything about receiving instead spoke about the reason they gave as their joy being full even in their poverty and batter of trials and testing. (2 Corinthians 8:1-15).

Friend, can we have the same heart as did King David and his subjects when they gave towards building the temple of God made with human hands.

1 Chronicles 29:9 (KJV)
“Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.”

My God!!! They were excited they could give to the building of the temple of God. Why??? It is seen when you read from verse one. A part says because David loved the temple of God.

Listen to me friend, I have said a lot today but hold this close to you as the summary. Whatever you give, Jesus expects it to be born out of love. A seed called RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Never give because you want to receive something you need. If you need something, pray and ask God for it.

Pray to the Lord to rid you of self and help You give as He has commanded and expects. Receive the grace to give liberally from Him. In Jesus name. Amen.

Thank you for joining me this week. Please join me next week as I continue this topic from a different direction having laid this foundation.

Please share this and save people from their selfishness. You can drop a comment, question and you can also like.

God bless you.

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