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Are you ready to give more of yourself? Giving more time, talents, gifts, knowledge, wisdom, kindness, goodness, mercy, joy, patience, and above all...LOVE is the only way to go if you truly desire to be like Jesus Christ. His example is set there before us to glean from, each and every time we choose to open up our Bibles to feast our eyes on the pages containing His life story.
What do you give? For some of us money is easy to give, while for others they hang on tightly to it, reluctant to part with any in case of need in an emergency situation, or wanting to grow their savings for “a rainy day”. It is good to save for these times when things are lean or when we are in need. It is also good to share our blessings with brethren and the less fortunate including the poor. Is there any such thing as too much, or too little? How much should we give? Should we have balance in giving? These questions have interesting answers and definitely involve wisdom from above. Firstly, let’s go to an example in the Bible.
There is mention made of a woman, her name we do not know, but her actions we do. In the future we will get to know her name but until then we are to focus on her example of giving. If we go to Mark 12:42-43 we can read of what the widow did. She gave all the money she had, dutifully, willingly, faithfully to God. It wasn’t much at all, just two copper coins...probably like the one cent coins we used to have here in Australia. What could one buy with so little? There are people now, believe it or not, saying that this account had nothing to do with giving and it was really all about the Pharisees “ripping off” the widows! They did take advantage of these women but that is not the primary or main focus. We need to recognise that despite her poverty she gave all she had even though it was minuscule...but it was certainly not minuscule to God and He commended her for it.
By mentioning this woman was a widow, we know she had no husband, and also possibly no children to help her. This had a bearing on her selfless attitude in giving all the money she had. Hers was a complete sacrifice. Did she need to give it all away? Perhaps she considered herself blessed with everything she had and family provided for her physical needs? But what if she gave all she had not knowing where her next meal came from? She may have been able to glean from the corners of the field each day to sustain herself. Much we do not know, but the one thing God wanted us to know is that she gave it all in faith. She humbly served God and not mammon (money) as the scriptures refer to in Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13.
Now enter the rich where comparison is made to those who gave great amounts, so much more than she did. However it was all relative. This means, by comparison, if we give from our abundance a small amount...is this really giving? We would not even miss it. There would be no hardship involved. On the other hand or conversely, we are left to ponder whether the poor widow could afford any food the next day. What would she do? How would she survive? The widow gave everything she had...this is truly giving and it was a beautiful act of faith. The rich did not give all they had otherwise it would have been documented in the scripture. Instead it says they put in out of their abundance. They could have given more but their choice was to give enough to make a loud indication that it was many coins, therefore they would attract the attention of others nearby hearing their money clink and clang rather impressively into the treasury. Jesus made special note of how the people gave and made comparison between the wealthy and the poor for our instruction.
Motives Behind Giving
Some would say it is ludicrous to give everything you have, for how would you then live? This is a hard thing to discern on how much we should give. After all, God says He desires obedience over sacrifice through His prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel 15:22. Some find obedience much harder to sustain than regular tithing or free will offerings. So what do we do? We focus on being obedient by keeping the 10 Commandments, living our lives daily by staying close to God, and watching our state so that we do not enter into sin, and if we do, we go straightaway in prayer to repent.
We could give everything we have to God but if we are not living righteously this would be futile and meaningless. What would be best is to focus on obedience and all the ways which please God by including loving forms of giving when and where we see needs we can fill. Yesterday it may have been trimming and filing the broken fingernails on an elderly man in an assisted living centre that you may visit; today it may be giving your cardigan to a young person who is shivering with cold because she does not have one; tomorrow it may be visiting someone who is unable to leave their home to give them your time, your conversation, your presence and company which could be the highlight of their lonely day. Perhaps you have even brought a healthy, hot, home cooked meal for her to enjoy as she is no longer able to cook like she used to.
Giving takes many forms. How we can give all of ourselves does not need to be focussed only on money. If we are diligently giving tithes and offerings that is all God asks of our finances, only 10% to Him; sure...we can give more if we can and have the means to do so...the other 90% is from our time, our resources, our talents and gifts, and from a willing heart. If we see a need and have the capacity to do so, we should fill it. If you have love in our heart for others this will resonate with you and God’s Spirit will motivate by leading you to do His will. What joy this means to the recipient and just watch and see how God blesses you too in the process because you have been willing instead of turning “a blind eye” or hardening your heart (Proverbs 11:25). We are told in 2 Corinthians 9:7 that God loves a cheerful giver. It is no good giving grudgingly as this is not truly giving (Deuteronomy 15:10). We need to examine our motives closely. We must give expecting nothing in return.
The example of the poor widow is a marvellous one, as who amongst us has truly given all the money they have at any time? Even though I admire and aspire to be like her I know I fall short. We have been given from God such an abundance of blessings in talents, gifts, and abilities along with financial benefits to be shared with those who have less. Everything we have is because of our Creator. Our time now is to give to others in so many ways it would be impossible to think of each and every one to document these. Our Father is watching us just like Christ Jesus watched the poor widow in the temple two thousands of years ago to discern HOW we give, more so than the size of the gift (2 Corinthians 8:12). It truly is the motivation that counts. What is within your heart and how will you give today? God is watching to see how you are loving others in preparation for His Kingdom when further needs will be filled.