The Act of Giving: (Part 2)

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Beloved I welcome you to another new week in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I greet you with the peace and love from the Father.

Last week, we started the message: The Act of Giving: (Part 1). In case you missed the message or you wish to have a look at the message, please use the direct link above.

The centre of our message today will be taken from book of Matthew 25:41-45

41 Then he(King) will say to those on the left, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick or in prison, and you did not look after me.'
44 'They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45 'He will reply, 'I tell you the truth whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not for me.'

Matthew 25:41-45

The above passage will be broken down to summarise our concluding message on "The Act of Giving".

* What to Give?

Giving is not measured in the amount or quantity given but in the intent of the heart.
1 You must give yourself first to God. It is the most important thing of value that you could ever give.

And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will.

2 Corinthians 8:5

Giving yourself to God implies giving your life and time. Just like Apostle Paul that said the life in which he now lives, he live it for Christ. It is by so doing that we keep to God's will of love and are able to reach out to the needs of others.

2 Your talents and gift

3 Your money/ other tangible valuables such as food, clothing and shelter.

4 Your meaningful and holy spirit inspired advice to comfort and encourage others.

* Who to Give to?

The above bible passage that we read in Matthew 25:41--45 gave us an insight of those to actually give to or render our help or extend the fellowship of love to.
1 To God
The first when it comes to who to give to, is to give back to our source, God. By so doing, we truly acknowledge God for whom we are and for all we have

2 To the needy and the poor
The needy and the poor were referred to as "the least of these brothers of mine" in Matthew 25 in the chapter above.
For what ever we have more than the next person gives us a position to give and render our sincere help

There will always be some among you who are poor in the land Therefore I command you to be openhanded towards your brothers and towards the poor and the needy in your land.

Deuteronomy 15:11

Whoever you have the capacity/ability to give help(be it your family, ethnic, tribe, state or fellow country man/woman, strangers and enemies) in your environment are those you should also give/render help to.

3 To those who have devoted themselves selflessly to the sole duty of spreading/propagating the gospel of Christ.

* Some excuses people make for not giving; be it to God or to others

Money excuses: I don't have/make enough money
Appearance excuses: He/She looks too ok to me to be in need.
pay back time excuses: when he/she was in the position to help me, he/she didn't. Now that the tide has turned, he/she wants my help? No way!
Reverse course excuses: I am younger than he/she is, so he/she should be the one doing the giving and not the other way round.
Cause and effect excuses: I suffered a lot to get to where I am financially today, so I can't just help.

The truth is, no matter who we are, rich or poor, young or old, privileged or deprived, silver spoon or colourless spoon, we all have something to give form one point in time to another.

* Benefits of Giving

in everything I did,I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Acts 20:35

Some of the benefits of giving are listed below;

1 God rewards cheerful givers

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 secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:3-4

To every giving you do in accordance with the word of God has a reward. Don't expect direct/indirect reward from the receiver but be hopeful that God who sees all things will openly reward your cheerful and sincere act of giving.

2 There feeling of joy of being the medium through which God is making and fulfilling His intents in the lives of others.
3 In giving we express our love to God by allowing God to minister to the need of others through us.
4 Giving makes provisional grace abound in all things at all times.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:8

5 Giving as an act of worship connects you to God. It helps to appreciate God as the source of whom you are and all that you have.