How to excel in giving!
Today’s devotion is based off of week 3 of Unlikely Heroes: A Widow (WATCH HERE)
So how do I get better?
Generosity is something the Lord desires we grow in.
“see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”
As we end the week, here are a few practical tips to work at to grow in your heart and ability to give.
- To grow in the heart of giving, grow in your love for what God has given to you.
The Apostle John said, “We love because he first loved us.” Every aspect of the Christian life is driven and motivated by the love God has shown to us. John also recorded Jesus’ words to Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” (John 3:16). God’s generosity to you is immense and is THE reason we can be generous with the wealth he has given to you.
- Prayerfully plan your giving.
To often giving is an after thought. Perhaps you think of it on a Sunday morning in church and give spontaneously what you have in your wallet or purse or quickly write a check or give an online gift. The better approach is to consider the income God is giving you every week or month (or distributions, dividends, bonuses, etc.). Take time to thank him for giving it to you. Then set aside a percentage (make 10% your minimum goal) and give it regularly (weekly or monthly) through an offering at church or through online giving. Remember, God is giving you income even the weeks you don’t make it to church! Here’s the encouragement from Paul to the Corinthians 1:Corinthians 16:2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
- Get better at managing your finances.
Excelling in the grace of giving also means getting better at managing the day to day expenses and income in your household. Maybe you didn’t learn good financial habits and planning in your early years. Maybe you are used to impulsively buying and wondering where all the money went. Maybe you have large debt on student loans, credit cards, car loans, boat/toy loans and mortgage. Maybe you’ve resigned yourself to living in debt and paycheck to paycheck. Excelling in giving will become easier if you learn to get on a budget, defer gratification, live within your means and get out of debt. The best tool I am aware of is the “Baby Steps” from Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. (CLICK HERE) (We will be offering this course at Crosspoint in May & June 2025!)
Giving is what Christians do. It’s what the love of Christ motivates us to do. It doesn’t come naturally, but it does come when we resolve with the Spirit’s help to excel in the grace of giving!
2 Corinthians 8:7 But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
Apply: What is one step you can take today to better excel in the grace of giving?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your love, grace and forgiveness. Help me today and every day to not just grow in faith, speech, knowledge and earnestness, but also in the grace of giving. AMEN.
PS: As the LORD moves you, you may want to give a gift to the Crosspoint ministry that enables these devotions to be sent out every week. If so, please click on this link and simply indicate a gift to our general ministry fund which provides the financial resources that make these devotions possible.
GIVING LINK: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZG4W/home
How much should I give?
Today’s devotion is based off of week 3 of Unlikely Heroes: A Widow (WATCH HERE)
How much should I give?
This question is maybe one you have asked.
The answer, when it is given from a trusted source, implies that if I follow it, I am doing the right thing.
So for example, if you ask your pastor this question, and he responds with $100 and you give $100, you feel like you have done the right thing.
But have you?
This question maybe is the right question…but maybe it’s also not a great question.
“How much…” implies that the one asking the question is seeking an amount to be the answer.
“…should I give?” implies that giving is an obligation that has to be taken care of.
To be sure, giving is something that God desires every person who professes faith in Jesus to do. However, he wants the motivation to be much different then simply a legality to be completed. Perhaps this interaction of Jesus with people giving an offering is instructive.
Mark 12:41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
Jesus makes evident that in this setting the amount of the offering wasn’t the key thing. While he doesn’t condemn the rich people for giving larger gifts, he also commends the widow for giving two very small copper coins.
However the amount is important as it reflects the heart.
For those that had ample means to give large amounts, there maybe was a smaller “pain” point for those to give. Their gifts maybe wouldn’t alter their lifestyle or other financial obligations they had made. Their gifts, while large, did not take a large faith to give.
The widow on the other hand had a very small monetary gift. Some may dismiss it as inconsequential. However, the amount of her gift reflected a large pain point. Once she walked away from the offering coffer, she had no material means to buy her next meal. Her gift, while small, took a large amount of faith to give.
The widow was giving a gift out of trust that God would provide what was needed. The amount was a reflection of the trust she had in her Savior.
So back to the question, “How much should I give?”
Maybe the answer is this, “Whatever amount causes you to trust God’s promises more.”
What is that for you?
Apply: Prayerfully consider the question of this devotion…but most importantly consider the heart/faith issue attached to the amount you give.
Prayer: Lord, lead me to trust more so I freely give more. AMEN.
PS: As the LORD moves you, you may want to give a gift to the Crosspoint ministry that enables these devotions to be sent out every week. If so, please click on this link and simply indicate a gift to our general ministry fund which provides the financial resources that make these devotions possible.
GIVING LINK: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZG4W/home
Giving is a matter of trust!
Today’s devotion is based off of week 3 of Unlikely Heroes: A Widow (WATCH HERE)
What keeps us from being more generous with our financial resources?
Certainly we have to guard our hearts against greed and love of money, which is a root of all kinds of evil, but I wonder if one of the key reasons we hesitate to be generous with our giving to the Lord is fear.
Fear I won’t have enough.
Fear the bills won’t get paid.
Fear I won’t be able to retire.
Money can be a security blanket for us, which does challenge us to evaluate our heart and ask, “Am I trusting money for things I should be trusting God for?”
The giving of the tithe was and still is an exercise in trust. It was a beginning point that God challenged his people to return to him through their offerings a tenth of all they made. As they gave the tithe, they were challenged to trust and not fear that they would not have enough if they gave ten percent to the LORD first.
What did they discover?
God challenged them and God blessed them. Here’s Malachi 3:8ff
8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed,for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
Growing in the grace of giving is growing in our trust in the LORD and driving out the fear from our hearts.
This promise that the LORD gives through Malachi is one that I personally have experienced and know other Christians have as well. When you simply decide to honor the LORD by giving 10% to him through your local church, you a) learn to trust he will provide and b) you learn to adjust your cravings for things and live on the 90% that remains. Part B maybe is the challenge because decisions have been made that have increased debt or financial responsibilities. It’s hard to say “No” to eating out or a new TV or a new car. We can feel a sense of entitlement that we deserve it or we “need” to have it. Marketing and advertising are not our friends as they seek to instill discontent and communicate you are missing out on something in life if you don’t buy their product.
For sure the issue can be complex and one may need help learning to better manage one’s financial wealth.
But perhaps this morning let your prayer be this, “Lord, help me to trust you in all things…including my finances so that I can joyfully and regularly give a tenth of my income to you through my church for the work of spreading the Gospel.” And see how God both enables you to do this and blesses you through it!
Apply: Evaluate today how much you make and what percentage of your income you are giving to the LORD through your local church (the primary recipient of the tithe). Begin to ask the Lord’s guidance to increase that from where you are to the 10%…and maybe even beyond!
Prayer: Lord, forgive me for robbing you by not bringing offerings to you. Forgive me for a lack of trust in you and trusting my wealth more. Help me to trust you in all things, especially my finances so that I can joyfully and regularly give a tenth of my income to you through my church. AMEN.
PS: As the LORD moves you, you may want to give a gift to the Crosspoint ministry that enables these devotions to be sent out every week. If so, please click on this link and simply indicate a gift to our general ministry fund which provides the financial resources that make these devotions possible.
GIVING LINK: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZG4W/home
Excel in giving!
Today’s devotion is based off of week 3 of Unlikely Heroes: A Widow (WATCH HERE)
2 Corinthians 8:7 But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
The Corinthian Christians were doing a lot of things right.
Their faith was strong.
Their words reflected God’s truth.
Their knowledge was growing in God’s wisdom.
They had a passion for the work of God’s kingdom.
And they had a deep love for Paul and people.
What could be missing?
“See that you also excel in the grace of giving.”
The Christian life has many facets that are to be brought into conformity to the Lord and his Word and ways. It starts when the Spirit of God creates a simple trust in Jesus as our Savior at baptism and then is to continue to grow throughout our lifetime. We maybe work on our speech and getting rid of the “sailor talk.” Maybe we engage in a Bible Study to learn the Bible better. We seek to love and care for the people around us. We may even find a way to serve based on our strengths.
But how do we respond when we are encouraged to grow in our generosity, especially our financial generosity?
Do we react with a pushback that says, “All the church is interested in is my money?” (Even after the church has fed you with God’s word for years, been there for you when you were sick and made sure your children had opportunities to grow in their faith?) I pray not.
Do we react with an excuse and says, “I have a lot of bills right now and once I get them paid off (or win the lottery) I will give more to the Lord through the church. I pray not.
Perhaps these are the influence of our sinful nature still at work in us that desires to keep a tight grip on our money. They are barriers to “excelling in the grace of giving.”
And giving is also a part of our life in which a Christian desires to grow.
The Spirit of God at work in us desires that we loosen our grip on our finances (not to the point of mismanagement) so that our giving is not an after thought after maintaining a lifestyle, but rather the first thought in our Christian life as a way to honor the Lord and show our trust in the Lord.
The grace of giving flows from the grace we have been given…just like every other aspect of the Christian life. Giving is not an obligation to be done, but rather an opportunity to be leveraged. We GET to give because of the grace given to us.
So this week we are going to pray for God’s Spirit to grow in us the ability to excel in the grace of giving. For as with every other aspect of our Christian life, when we better manage the wealth God has entrusted to us, the more we will see and realize the grace and blessing God has given to us.
Apply: Evaluate your heart toward giving on a scale of 1-10. Ten would be a heart that can’t wait to give, motivated fully by the grace we have been given. A One would be a heart that really struggles to give and sees it as a minor or unimportant part of our Christian life.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for all you have given to me. Help me grow in my giving so that I may excel in the grace of giving. AMEN.
As the LORD moves you, you may want to give a gift to the Crosspoint ministry that enables these devotions to be sent out every week. If so, please click on this link and simply indicate a gift to our general ministry fund which provides the financial resources that make these devotions possible.
GIVING LINK: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZG4W/home
Well said.
Today’s devotion is based off of week 2 of Unlikely Heroes: A Teacher (WATCH HERE)
Well said.
The teacher responds to the greatest Teacher:
Mark 12:32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
It is easy to miss the point among the details.
In the plethora of laws which God had given to Israel, one may try to prioritize which of the laws is the most important. It seems by the teacher of the law’s response that many had prioritized as important the bringing of offerings and sacrifices to the temple. Perhaps this might be like “C&E Christians” (Christians who attend church on just Christmas and Easter). It is maybe perceived as the “bare minimum” activity to still claim to be a Christian. Perhaps the bringing of offerings and sacrifices on occasion was deemed to be the bare minimum to be considered a practicing Jew.
However, the teacher of the law was understanding from Jesus’ answer that what the Lord was looking for wasn’t a few “bare minimum” activities that honored a couple of the laws he had given, rather what Jesus’ answer indicated is that the Lord was interested in the full devotion of the individual’s heart. Only when the heart had been touched by the love of Christ would the actions follow in a way that honored the Lord.
The prophet Hosea put it this way as he confronted a straying Israel. The way back to the Lord wasn’t simply by going through the motions of the law, but rather a heart that was fully focused on the Lord. Hosea, speaking for the Lord said, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6).
Empty actions are only indicative of an empty heart.
A heart touched by the love of God is motivated to follow the law of God.
And that’s where grace comes into play.
The grace of God reflects the love of God that was willing to send the Son of God to fulfill the law of God on behalf of each one of us. The fact that, as the Apostle Paul says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The amazing thing about this great exchange is that we are GIVEN the status as righteous (perfect) as a gift of God. Because we wear the righteousness of Christ, we are not following God’s law to appease the justice of God (i.e. to become righteous), but rather to reflect our gratitude for the grace of God.
And when we live in and are motivated by the grace of God, we are not far from the kingdom of God, because it is what people do whom God has brought into his kingdom.
Apply: How does your perspective change on the law of God as you realize it is there not to earn the righteousness of God, but rather to guide your life of living for God?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your grace. Let it motivate me to live every aspect of my life as a true expression of gratitude for your grace. AMEN.