Once there was an old man who lived alone in a great mansion. Every day he went to work and he stayed there longer than anyone else. Everyone avoided and feared him, for though he was known for working hard, he was not a kind man. He kept to himself, never wanting to hear about anyone else's life. All he cared about was money. When he came home, he took half the money he had earned and put it in his safe; the other half he kept for his expenses. The only time the safe was opened was to put money inside. He never took any out. There were beggars who lived on the street who had only the ragged clothes on their backs. Their only meals were the moldy remains of the food thrown into the alleyways. They had to sneak into public places for fresh water. But the wealthy old man was oblivious to all of this--not because he was dumb or ignorant, but because he chose to ignore it. The beggars had become so accustomed to his indifference that they no longer approached or spoke to him.
One day, the wealthy, old man died. He had left his estate to no one. As the government was preparing to transfer the money, a thief, who was already a millionaire, broke in and stole all of it. None of the money was ever put into the hands of those who were most in need of it.
Does this sound familiar? Jesus himself speaks about a wealthy, old man who was oblivious to the poor beggar outside his home in Luke 16. Yet, Jesus gives us an even greater perspective. When the beggar dies, he goes to heaven, but the rich man does not.
Now this does not mean that everyone who is poor goes to heaven and those who are rich go to hell. Rather, this parable is merely used as a method for Jesus to preach about the worthlessness of riches on earth. The wealthy man hoarded his wealth thinking it was his security, that it was his money which preserved his life, never giving a thought about the God who had created him and breathed life into him. Yet the beggar never had this false sense of security since he literally had no earthly possessions. It made it clear to him that he was in need of a savior, of a God who loved Him.
In other words, it is about their hearts.
Have you ever seen young children play? Sometimes they can be the sweetest souls, giving their toys to friends and playing fairly. But most of the time, this is all you hear: "Mine, mine, mine!"
It is obvious when with children that it is not in our fallen nature to share. We must be taught, consistently and firmly, to share.
Even after the Holy Spirit has entered into our hearts, renewing our mind and heart's desires to want the things of God, we can find ourselves being trapped in the pursuit of "mine".
In the book of Acts, we see a real-life example of this. We are told that many of the believers sold their possessions and gave the money to the apostles for them to use to provide for the poor, including Barnabas who "sold a field and brought the money," all of it, to the apostles (Acts 4:37).
Now here is one of the most shocking things in the bible. We are told that next a "man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet" and both of them died because they lied to the apostles and told them that it was the full amount they received for the land (Acts 5:1-2).
Again, this isn't because it was wrong for Ananias and Sapphira to keep a portion of the money. It was the fact that their greed and pride kept them from admitting that they were only giving a portion to the apostles. They wanted to be acknowledged for giving the amount of an entire piece of property, just like Barnabas. It was a heart issue. They were not cheerfully or willingly giving that portion of the money to the apostles--it was only for recognition.
Jesus also points out the importance of giving as unto the Lord in Luke 21. He and his disciples enter the temple where all of the wealthy individuals are pouring bags of coins into the offering. But suddenly, Jesus sees a widow put in two small coins and says, "This poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on” (Luke 21: 3-4).
You see, it is not always in our control whether we are wealthy or rich. In fact, in 2 Corinthians, Paul tells the believers in Corinth that they will be blessed with riches so that they might be generous to those who need it. But it is up to us how we give. Will we do it in pride for human recognition? Will we do it begrudgingly, greedily wishing we could keep it all for ourselves? Or will we do it with gladness in our hearts knowing that only God alone sustains, provides, and gives all we need?
I guess the question is, as children of God, do we want to please the Lord or do we want to please ourselves?
I think the answer to that question is obvious if you have surrendered your life to Jesus. We know what it is like to please ourselves, and it is a miserable, dark, hopeless place. We know what it is to find our joy in the things of this world and in our possessions, and the truth is, there actually is no joy in those things. It's a lie. These earthly pleasures are temporary and do not last.
But, Paul quotes Jesus in Acts 20: 35 and says that "it is more blessed to give than to receive." And in 2 Corinthians 9:7, he tells us that "God loves a cheerful giver."
If you're like me, it can be hard to remember that pleasing myself does not bring lasting joy in those hard moments on Wednesday nights when I am supposed to go serve at church after a long work day. In my flesh, I want to stay home. I want my time. And the same can go for money. I put more money towards the things I want than towards the ministries that serve the homeless, the widow, the orphan. Yet, when I find myself being tempted to believe the lies that I am more important, my time and my things, I remember that hopeless, dark pit that Jesus pulled me from. I remember the grace He gave me freely. I remember the eternal life He has blessed me with where there will be no sorrow or pain, only joyful praise for a loving Savior who rescued me. And that is all it takes for my mind to be renewed and to remember that I don't want to please myself because that brings death. I want to please God where there's life and life abundant. And according to Paul, one way to please God is to give cheerfully.
Not only is God pleased with our giving, but Paul declares that "others will praise God" for our obedience to give and for our "generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:13-15)
So, not only do we give because we have been given life, salvation, grace, and every good gift in Jesus Christ; not only do we give because it pleases God; not only do we give because we find more joy in giving than receiving; not only do we give because we realize that holding on to the things of this world will never satisfy us or bring us joy; BUT, our giving brings God more glory. Those we give to will praise God--and they may not even be believers! Our giving could be the very thing God uses to bring more people to Himself, and it has, millions of times!
So, why do we give? Why do we not give?
Nothing we have is ours, not even our very breath. We cannot even sustain life on our own. I don't know about you, but I'm not telling my body to breathe right now--and I wasn't taught how to breathe, it just happened. So, basically, I have no control of when I start or stop breathing. My life is completely in God's hands. And so is my time. And the things that I have. And the parents I was born to (I didn't make that choice either). So if God has given me everything I have, though I never did anything to deserve it, shouldn't I be willing to give all I have in return?
If we are unwilling to give, let's examine our hearts this week asking the Lord to show us how much He has given us. Let's ask Him to give us a cheerful spirit, one that is willing to give everything for the sake of His kingdom and glory. And let's ask Him to show us where we can give and who we can serve that they might glorify our Father in Heaven.
Written on Oct 2, 2022 by former Lets Grow Together Blog Manager - Kelly Miller.
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