Christians
are a Giving People! There is no question that Christians are a giving people. In fact any professed believer who is not generous and giving needs to seriously consider who they really are.
Part of our personal examination comes from seeing how God is working in our lives. A person saved by amazing grace cannot help but show it! Jesus, on His own authority, established the norm for the New Covenant, setting aside the common practice from the Old...
In another place, Jesus also pointed out that of everything God has given to us, we need to freely give. Don't miss that the context of this next passage is not in regards to money.
Amassing possessions with focus on self is a mark of an unrepentant sinner, not a believer. Jesus, responding to one such rich man, showed this clearly when He said...
Believers, in contrast, should be so unattached to things that we would be eager to use them all for our Lord. It's a good heart-check to ask the question: if the Master commanded you to sell all your possessions and give it all away to the poor in your community, would you be willing to do it? Finally, Jesus told us that His followers would have a focus on serving others. This cannot happen without having a life focused on giving. There's no better example than Jesus. He gave His entire life in service!
"Give..." is clearly a command of Jesus. No believer in Jesus Christ, confessing Him as Savior and Lord, will want to ignore His commands. Jesus made this unambiguous with these words...
Now that we are unquestionably clear that every believer is to be a giving person, in all areas of their life, it leaves us focused on questions of specifics. Does the Bible give particular commands on how we should be giving? Certainly many would point to the tithe as a starting place, so this is where our examination also must go. |