MORE PHOTOS

Why Give?

It has been said by some that money makes a good servant but a poor master. We live in a world that worships money and serves it like a god. According to Jesus it is impossible to serve both God and money. You will ultimately end up choosing one over the other and forsaking one master to serve another. Jesus said in Mark 6:24:

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

If money is your master you are in bondage. Jesus also said that where your treasure is – there is your heart. If you want to know what you really care about – what’s really important to you – then look at how you spend your money. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:19-21:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Does God need your money? Absolutely not! That is completely ludicrous. God wants your heart, not your money. But if you want to give God your heart it means more than lip service. It could mean your time, your talents, your skills, your finances – your passion. Why doesn’t God just do it all for us? That’s not His plan. He has chosen to work through the frailty of man. He is inviting us to participate in His kingdom and the redemption of mankind. God doesn’t need our help – but He WANTS it. He gives us all free will and the choice to do good or evil. He gives us freedom. He grieves when we choose the path of hatred and selfishness and He rejoices when we choose love and mercy (Matthew 9:13).

Do you want to be free? Then set yourself free from the love of money. How? Give. How do you implement this idea, you ask? If you pass by someone on your way to work or the store and they are hungry and you have the means – feed them. If someone needs clothing and you have the means – clothe them. If someone is sick and you have the means – visit and assist them. If someone needs a kind word – encourage them. If someone seems down and out – humble yourself and give them a hug. If someone needs a skill or talent that you possess – help them out. Giving doesn't have to be one solitary extravagant act - it can be a thousand mundane and trivial acts that propagate the love of God outward towards others.

Find a body of believers like yourself – somewhere where they are living out the gospel, not just talking about it. Join that body. Support and draw strength from it. If you surrender your pride, together you can accomplish greater things for God than you could individually. Give and you will receive back your efforts greatly multiplied. As we decrease He can increase.

Show Jesus you love him by doing what he says. Jesus says in John 14:21: “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.” Jesus also said: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46) Giving is a chance to “put your money where your mouth is” as they say. In the parable of the goats and the sheep Jesus said the difference between those who go to heaven and those who don’t will ultimately be giving – things they did or did not do. The sheep who enter paradise are the ones who fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked and visited the sick and those in prison. The goats who do not make it are the ones who paid Christ lip service but gave and did nothing. (Matthew 25:31-46). Jesus is asking us to become His hands and feet on earth.

Giving is your opportunity to make God your master and kick the petty god of mammon of his tyrannical throne. When God becomes your master instead of money you will know joy and peace and ecstasy that money can’t buy. God allows us to participate in His kingdom – we become His hands and feet on earth to share His love and kindness with everyone around us. Giving does more for us than for God. Ultimately God doesn’t really need anything from us. He already has it all. But it delights Him when we participate with Him in His plans.

Why is giving such an issue? Because it lies at the heart of who we are. What is important to us? Why did Jesus become so angry and turn over the tables of the money changers in the temple? Because they were worshiping the god of money, not the real God. Merchandise was more important to them than God. (Matthew 21:12-13)

What about us? Is merchandise more important to us than the things of God? What do we chase after? Merchandise? A bigger television? A faster computer? A nicer car? A bigger house? Or do we chase after God? Mark 11:15-18 says:

 

"On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: “‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’ ? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching."

When we are in bondage to money our lives are consumed with worries about what we will eat, what we will drink, what we will wear and where we will live. We feel like we can’t give our hearts to God because there are so many other things we must do to make ends meet. But when we seek God’s kingdom first as Jesus asked us to, we can live free from this bondage. (Luke 12:22-31)

The way to get free starts with giving. Technically, it’s a way to put God first. It is a way to exercise faith and put it into practice. Jesus promises in the same passage that if we seek God instead of merchandise God will ultimately add everything to us that we need – food, clothing, shelter and even the very dreams and desires of our heart. So many times God just wants to bring us to the place where we desire Him more than things and we worship Him more than things. That's all He's after.

When we finally get to that place and we are free sometimes God blesses us with more things that we know what to do with. God is not asking us to take a vow of poverty – He is only asking that we put Him FIRST. He wants to be the most PASSIONATE desire of our heart – not merchandise (Psalm 20:4).

Jesus also gave us instructions on how to give. If you want to experience the joy of giving don't do it to be noticed. Don't do it to be thanked. Do it for God and God alone. Practice it frequently and unexpectedly as random acts of kindness - with complete abandonment. Practice it candidly and secretly - not seeking to be noticed by men but simply joyful of the opportunity to be a part of God's kindness and love - to be His hands and feet on earth. Jesus said in Matthew 6:1-4:

"Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

If you give in this way - candidly and in secret, according to the instructions of Jesus, you will be blessed by God - and that's a lot better than earning the admiration of men. What really makes you happy? Think about it.

Again - God does not need our money. In Matthew 10:8 Jesus says "Freely you have received - freely give". Think about that. Jesus never charged us for the truth. He never charged us for salvation. He never charged us for anything. He doesn't ask that we pay it back. He asks that we pay it forward. So share Jesus with someone else - set them free. Give to those in need and those rare and special ministries who honor and obey what Jesus has asked us to do.

What did Jesus and his disciples have to say about desiring money and merchandise instead of God?  The "god of money" and Jesus.

A Strong Tower Soup Kitchen and Movie Night

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Jesus is telling us to become the Hands and feet of God. If there are hungry, hurting people around us we're to be the ones to reach out and touch them. Each of us becomes God's unique epistle to the world. According to Christ, they will know who we follow by the love we have for one another (John 13:34-35).

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In the parable of the goats and the sheep, Jesus tells us ironically that it is those who have concern for the poor, the hungry, the naked, the thirsty, the imprisoned and the sick that are among heaven's "elect", not those who appear "spiritual" in the traditional understanding of that terminology. Jesus seems to be pointing us to an inescapable conclusion: How do we treat those around us - the less fortunate, total strangers, coworkers, our family, our friends, our enemies? Do we care? Do we love? (Matthew 25:31-46)                                 
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A Strong Tower Soup Kitchen and Movie Night
 

More: (PHOTOS 1) (PHOTOS 2) (PHOTOS 3)
 

God has HANDS on earth. His
hands are YOUR hands.

God has FEET on earth. His feet are YOUR
feet.