Everything Belongs to God
In
a previous post, I wrote about
cultivating spiritual growth, and subsequently, generosity. As the Holy
Spirit continues to work in our lives, we will notice changes in our
attitudes and beliefs about giving, such as:
- We think less about ourselves and more about others.
- When we see the needs of others, we wonder, If I don’t do something, who will?
- We discover that we find more joy in doing things for other people and for God than we ever did in doing things for ourselves.
Through these truths, we begin to embrace the larger spiritual realization and theological foundation for generosity:
Life is a gift, and everything belongs to God.
God says it this way in the Book of Leviticus: “The land is mine . . . you are but aliens and tenants” (25:23). Isn’t that interesting? We are tenants on God’s land. We are managers of God’s resources—both the natural resources of our planet and the things that we have.
In the Book of Genesis, God created Adam and Eve, put them in the midst of the garden, and said, “Now, be fruitful and multiply and oversee this planet. It’s mine, and I’m asking you to take care of it on my behalf” (Genesis 1:28, my paraphrase). We are stewards of the blessings of God, and our goal is to determine what God wants us to do with the resources we have at our disposal.
Obviously, many of our resources go to take care of our needs. Certainly God expects us to have shelter and to eat and to take care of our children. So, a large portion of what we have is to be used for those things. God also wants us to enjoy our lives, not to live in poverty. Nevertheless, God expects us to do more than focus only on ourselves.
So the Scriptures teach us that we are to help the poor and give to those in need; and when we do, we are blessed. The Scriptures also teach us that we are to return a portion of our livelihood to God.
Four Spiritual Action Steps
Determine what % of your gross income you currently give God.
Find a way to increase that percentage. Discuss this with your family.
As you do, note your feelings, thoughts and attitudes. What do you notice?
Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-15, 9:6-15
Find a way to increase that percentage. Discuss this with your family.
As you do, note your feelings, thoughts and attitudes. What do you notice?
Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-15, 9:6-15
As you do each of the above, the Lord will be revealing things to you about Himself and yourself! What are you discovering?
In my daily prayers,
ReplyDeleteGOD, PLEASE GUIDE & DIRECT ME TO BE THE VERY BEST CHRISTIAN I CAN BE, AND GIVE BACK ACCORDING TO YOUR WILL.
I have a question, perhaps naive, regarding 'what % of income'. Does refer one's % income giving to God through the church alone ? God guides me to give directly to the needy in many ways: time, income, material items, skills and so on. Do these count toward % income ?
The way i think about it is just very simple. God wants me to be a giver including a giver of money. Money has got to be part of the equation unless you have nothing. So, my simple understanding of the bible is that God gives a benchmark,not a law, that we give him 10% and we keep90%. It's a guidline that makes sense to me, because without it I'll just be selfish. So i give 10% to the CLC and then i give beyond that to other things like compassion international and urban promise and more. For most that's a really big leap, so CS Lewis said it best that the only safe way to know you're giving as God wants is to give a little bit more than you can afford. Hope this helps
ReplyDeletePastor Jeff,
DeleteThanks so very much for your reply.
I apologize. I was not clear.
I was reluctant being too specific as self-serving.
I am so very blessed every day...and all my life.
God answers so many of my prayers. Anonmously, I give 50 % of my income to charities focused on the poor, the abused, the homeless, disadvantaged children with special needs. However, my giving is not necessarily to the church. I have only seen 'to tithe' referred as giving to God through the church.
Again, sorry to be naive maybe...I would appreciate your thoughts? Thanks & God bless, Ronn