Beloved of God, I welcome you all yet again to another Sunday of blessings. The message of love flooded the air waves in the previous week as the world celebrate Valentine's Day, and I feel the time to write to us about "giving" couldn't be more right than now.
life is love
Love is life
To live is to love
And to love is to live
Life is giving
Giving is living
To live is to give
And to give is to live
Love is giving
Giving is love
To love is to give
And to give is to love
Keep giving, keep loving, and keep living.
Note: Giving devoid of love is a disservice to oneself... Hillaryoki
"Hope Beckons" series 36 last week dwelled extensively on love and its attributes. Today, and the next Sunday to come, we would be considering the "Ministry of Giving".
What is Giving?
Giving as an act of worship is a way of demonstrating love of God to others.
Of all the meanings to "Giving" by dictionary.com, I am moved to quote just one that is more applicable to our subject matter:
Giving:
to present voluntarily and without expecting compensation
Giving is the desire that comes from within to bless others without any external coercion, manipulation or compulsion.
God presented His only son, Jesus, to us as a demonstration of His love for us.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
1 John 4:16
In giving we are use as a vessel for God to minister unto others.
For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.
2 Corinthians 8:3-4
Giving is the eagerness to help others willingly from the heart and not grudgingly or by command.
The Right Motive/Intent for Giving.
It is no longer strange to see people, even some believers these days give in exchange or return for favour. This is one of the many wrong motives/intents for giving. Another wrong motive for giving could be seen in "Mark 12:41" as a showoff of status(that is giving for recognition from the people around).
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offering were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw their large amounts
Mark 12:41
Others wrongly engaged in the act of giving for power, memorial plaque or statue, and to arouse feeling of indebtedness from the receiver.
- The right motive for giving should be to express God's righteousness of love unto others.
The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.
Psalm 116:5
- The desire to help others is to be done cheerfully and in secret.
1 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.
3 .. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.Matthew 6:1,3-4
6 Remember this: Whoever sow sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sow generously will also reap generously.
7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.2 Corinthians 9:6-7
Having the right motive/intent for giving open windows for heavenly reward. Those who blow their giving with trumpets are like the hypocrites and the politicians of our time. Their reward for their giving ends here on earth with the applause from mortal men.
Beloved of God, till I come your way next Sunday with the concluding part of "the act of giving", remain blessed in the love of Christ.
All Imgs from Pixabay
@hillaryoki ...I remain committed to your rising
@hillaryoki ...I remain committed to your rising