Username of the writer: ArticleProf
As believers of Jesus Christ, our giving should not be dependent primarily on our financial abilities or material wealth. Instead, giving is an expression of love, and it reveals the nature of God in us and our relationship with Him. John 3:16 says that “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son…” This means that God did this out of love He had for the world, and He wanted to save humankind from perishing. The declaration in John 3:16 reveals the heart of God and sums up how the Christian life should be. The Bible teaches us that the greatest commandment is love, where we are required to love God first and subsequently love our neighbors. Once we love, the best thing that we can do to express this love is by giving.
By giving, we always find ourselves helping someone to become better and happier. Once another person is happy because of our act of selfless giving, we become happy as well. We are required to live for others as Christians. The secret is simple; you have to help somebody for you to get happiness for a lifetime. The Biblical truth of this statement reveals in Acts 20:35, which tells us that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Besides, apart from the Bible’s teaching, some studies have also revealed that giving is an excellent pathway to lasting happiness and personal growth. According to the studies, the same brain parts activated by sex and food are also stimulated when we give. These studies, therefore, reveal that giving is pleasurable. Giving, which is, in essence, helping others, does not only help us to live happily but also leads to a healthier, wealthier, more meaningful, and productive life. When I learned the principle of giving, I experienced more doors opening in my life.
About three years ago, when I was still a spiritual baby, I could not understand why I should wake up and go to work only to end up giving my day’s earnings to someone else. Giving for me was particularly difficult, especially for people who are not family. Besides, I never believed in tithing, and I can say that I used to rob God what was His just so confidently. I had not matured spiritually, and I never bothered to apply some of these essential Christian doctrines. I can say that I used to live for myself only, and my definition of giving was different. I believed that giving is lending you a loan and expecting you to return after a short while, preferably with interest.
However, I still felt that my life was going on well. At that time, I owned a small coffee shop where I used to sell drinks and snacks. I would go to work and make enough money to cater to my bills and take care of my family. Thank God the profits were helping me take care of my responsibilities as the head of the family. On Sunday, I went to church, and the message on that particular day was about giving. The statement came as a complete package about what I should give, how I should give, and whom I should give. The message touched my heart, and I felt that God was speaking to me directly. Due to how deep the news sank in my heart, I decided to try giving.
At first, I used to struggle, and I could even bargain my tithe with God. Fortunately, I was able to normalize giving after some months. Out of the profits that I could make in my business, I set aside a good percentage for helping the needy people in my community. Every new month I would ensure that I tithe at least 10% of my profits and give back to the community, especially to the orphans and the older people who were not well off financially. Any month that I would do this, I felt more fulfilled, and whenever I saw a granny smiling at me with gratitude, I would have a great sense of satisfaction. I could finally enjoy when giving, and I shared from my heart.
After two to three months, I realized that my business was making more than before. To cut a long story short, I remained faithful in giving, and today I own a very profitable and big restaurant. A small coffee shop transformed into a thriving restaurant within a brief period. That exceptional growth excited me, and I can only link it to giving and living for others.
I felt that the words in Proverbs 19:17 and Luke 6:38 were happening in my life. Indeed God repaid me with an amount that was “pressed down, shaken together and overflowing.” Thus, we, as the family of faith, should embrace the doctrine of giving. Everything that we have belongs to God, and He has only trusted His wealth in our hands that we may help others. If we do not assist others, God cannot trust us with more, and we can even lose what we already have if we fail to do His will. Everything in the world belongs to God, and that’s why even non-believers should learn to give in love.
We should never have an excuse for not giving because we have received plenty of gifts and wealth from God. All we have to do is to share from the heart like the poor widow who gave two copper coins in Mark 12:41, contrary to others who had shared out of their abundance. When we do that, the amount of what we provide does not matter. The truth is that no one is too poor to give because we all have something we can share. It can be money, possessions, emotional support, kindness, a piece of advice, or even a smile that can enlighten someone.
Indeed sharing is caring, and it is also a responsibility at the same time because “to whom much is given, in return he/she should share a lot from him…” (Luke 12:48). It means that we should never forget to live for others. We should focus on giving our material possessions to the needy and add other things like emotional support as a bonus, as revealed in James 2:16. May God richly bless you as you purpose to give and do His will.
Originally posted 2021-05-30 08:42:23.
