I came across this post regarding objections to giving to the poor.

Giving to the poor always seems to be one of those sticky issues that polarize, but that needn’t be the case.

Giving, especially to the poor, when rightly filtered through the lens of the Gospel, is a great way to glorify God and show others the love of Christ.

Consciously or subconsciously, we each have objections to giving to the poor that we must recognize.  When we see exactly what our issues are with giving, we can rightly correct our view.

Below is B. B. Warfield‘s response to three common objections to giving to the poor as quoted in the great book by Tim Keller, Ministries of Mercy:

Objection 1. “My money is my own.”

Answer: Christ might have said, “my blood is my own, my life is my own.” Then where should we have been?

Objection 2. “The poor are undeserving.”

Answer: Christ might have said, “They are wicked rebels . . . shall I lay down my life for these? I will give to the good angels.” But no, he left the ninety-nine, and came after the lost. He gave his blood for the undeserving.

Objection 3. “The poor may abuse it.”

Answer: Christ might have said the same; yea, with far greater truth. Christ knew that thousands would trample his blood under their feet; that most would despise it; that many would make it an excuse for sinning more; yet he gave his own blood.

Oh, my dear Christians! If you would be like Christ, give much, give often, give freely, to the vile and poor, the thankless and the undeserving. Christ is glorious and happy and so will you be. It is not your money I want, but your happiness. Remember his own word, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Other Posts About Giving and Generosity

• What Jonathan Edwards Teaches Us About Giving to the Poor – Part 1
• What Jonathan Edwards Teaches Us About Giving to the Poor – Part 2
• How Should We Help the Poor?
• 3 Powerful Things John Wesley Teaches Us About Money
• 5 Reasons You’re (Probably) Not as Generous as You Should Be
• Should You Give Money to a Homeless Person?
• Should You Wait to Give Until You Have Enough Money?
• What Does It Mean to Store Up Treasure in Heaven?
• 10 Things Christians Must Do With Their Money

Don’t you love how God uses tiny, seemingly insignificant verses in the Bible to blow you away sometimes?

Whenever he does this, it’s kind of like finding a diamond in the rough.

He did this not too long ago for me with a little verse in Ezekiel, and I was reminded of it again yesterday.

It has to do with the city of Sodom.

Every memory I had of Sodom from the Bible was their self-indulgent sexual lifestyle.

Sodom was the Las Vegas of the ancient world.

What happened in Sodom, stayed in Sodom.

They were the epitome of disobedience.

And because of their disobedience God eventually rained down fire and brimstone to punish them.

I always thought God’s judgment was a result of their immoral lifestyle, but reading through Ezekiel I saw a different picture.

And it relates perfectly to us today in regards to our money.

Here’s what Ezekiel 16:49-50 (ESV) says:

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.

A couple things to note:

1. Sodom’s Wealth Fueled Their Pride

It’s okay to be rich.  They had excess food and prosperous ease.  Many of us in America do too.

Where Sodom went wrong  (and many of us go wrong too) is that they were haughty. They were proud of their accomplishments and their wealth.

Their money was their identity.

Their self worth was based on their net worth, and because they were rich they thought highly of themselves.

Food for thought: Does your net worth drive your self worth?  Do you look down on others who have less than you?

2. Sodom’s Wealth Wasn’t Used to Help the Poor

Sodom didn’t use their money to assist those who needed help.

Sodom wasn’t eager to help the poor.

They had loads of money, but not an ounce of love.

They couldn’t care less about the poor, and they certainly weren’t generous to needy.

Food for thought:  Are you using your money to care for others and assist the poor and needy?

The Lesson

Money is a means for helping others, not a tool for self indulgence.

What are your thoughts?  Do you think generosity helps fight against pride?

John Wesley was an 18th century English preacher who focused on the justification by faith as well as social issues like prison reform and slavery abolition.  He began small groups of believers throughout England that focused not only on gaining scriptural knowledge, but also personal holiness and discipleship.

He and his brother Charles were instrumental in beginning the Methodist denomination. But John Wesley also gives us an insight into how we should handle our money.

Here are three things John Wesley teaches us about money from his sermon, The Use of Money:

1. Gain All You Can

I love that Wesley doesn’t condemn making money.  In fact, he suggests we gain all we can.  But, he does provide some caveats, which are very useful in determining how we should go about making money:

1. Don’t gain money at the expense of your health.  Essentially Wesley says we shouldn’t work til we drop just to make more money. We need to learn when to rest.
2. Don’t gain money at the expense of your soul.  In other words, don’t engage in activities that are not pleasing to God and may cause damage to your soul. For example, a sales job where the company requires you to lie about a product or competitor to get ahead.
3. Don’t gain money at the expense of your neighbor. Don’t take advantage of others in order to get ahead.  In today’s society, it’s customary to view others as stepping stones to our fortune. Wesley warns against such thoughts.

Wesley goes on to say that we should always seek to improve upon the ways we make our money – to get better at it.

Gain all you can, by common sense, by using in your business all the understanding which God has given you. It is amazing to observe, how few do this; how men run on in the same dull track with their forefathers. You should be continually learning, from the experience of others, or from your own experience, reading, and reflection, to do everything you have to do better to-day than you did yesterday.

2. Save All You Can

After having gained all we can, we should save. Wesley warns against throwing it away toward frivolous niceties and fanciful pleasures. He suggests avoiding excessive spending so we can save money not to hoard, but so we can put it to good use.

Do not throw it away in idle expenses, which is just the same as throwing it into the sea. Expend no part of it merely to gratify the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, or the pride of life.

3. Give All You Can

Wesley says,

But let not any man imagine that he has done anything, barely by going thus far, by “gaining and saving all he can,” if he were to stop here. All this is nothing, if a man go not forward, if he does not point all this at a farther end.

Nor, indeed, can a man properly be said to save anything, if he only lays it up. You may as well throw your money into the sea, as bury it in the earth. And you may as well bury it in the earth, as in your chest, or in the Bank of England.

Not to use, is effectually to throw it away. If, therefore, you would indeed “make yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness,” add the Third rule to the two preceding. Having, First, gained all you can, and, Secondly saved all you can, Then “give all you can.”

What a challenge! If you don’t give, you are essentially throwing your money into the sea!  Those are strong and challenging words from Wesley.

How Are You Doing With Gaining, Saving, & Giving?

Here are some resources to help you:

Gain All You Can

• How to make money with a blog
• 20 Income Generating Ideas
• 24 Home-Based Business Ideas

Save All You Can

• 10 Money Saving Tips to Help You Stash $10,000
• 3 Simple Steps to Build Wealth
• 4 Ways to Trick Yourself into Saving Money

Give All You Can

• How to Build Generosity into Your Budget
• Radical Generosity in a Sea of Stinginess
• The Great Paradox of Generosity (And Why It’s So Hard to Believe)
• 5 Ways You Can Become More Generous
• How Much Should a Christian Give?

Let’s get the conversation going, how are you doing with these three things? Which one is most difficult for you?

Sometimes we are our own worst enemy.

We scratch and claw for more money, more wealth, more stuff, and yet ironically it doesn’t satisfy. We think money will be the key to all our problems. And then, just as we get a little more we realize…we need a little more.

Fidelity recently conducted a survey analyzing the investing attitudes of America’s millionaires and found that 42% wont’ feel wealthy until they have $7 million!

$7,000,000! Really?

Now before you say, “Greedy millionaires!  I would never be like that!”, think about your own life.

How often have you thought, “If only I had another $500 per month, $10,000 in income per year, or could win the lottery (insert greedy request here)…then I’d be happy”?

If you’re like me, you’ve thought it many times. Although millionaire status may allude many of us, the temptation to  want more is alive and well within.  Here’s what the Bible says about this:

What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?  You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it.

You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 

And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.  James 4:1-3 (NLT)

We don’t have because we don’t ask, but even when we ask we don’t get because our heart is a mess! Our motives are selfish and sinful.

Now don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with being rich or earning a great income. In fact, I encourage you to take the simple steps to millionaire status. Just be sure to guard your heart, and be radically generous as you do it.

Greed is a matter of the heart, and we need help.  We need God to save us from our own desires.

I know I need to constantly pray for God’s help in overcoming the idols of my heart. When I don’t, I am prone to fall into temptation, and go after the evil desires that wage war within.

Practical ideas to help overcome our own greedy desires:

• Pray – Ask God to give you the strength to overcome our own sinful desires.
• Read & Memorize Scripture – God’s word is full of many powerful passages that speak directly to our hearts. King David said, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11 (ESV).
• Get Accountable – Tell someone you trust your struggles with greed (or any other sin) and ask them to hold you accountable to take the necessary steps to overcome your temptation.
• Develop a Deeper Love for the Gospel - Overcoming any temptation starts with the gospel.
• Become a More Generous Person – When we get our mind off our own wants, and put them on other’s needs, we can begin to overcome temptations to hoard, be greedy, or use our money only on ourselves. You can start by creating a generous budget.

What are your thoughts? How has God helped you to overcome temptation?

This is our third article in a series that takes a look at how a proper understanding of the gospel should influence how we manage our finances. In the first article, we examined the fact that we are now slaves of Christ, and merely stewards of God’s resources. Then, in the second article, we took a look at our response to God’s grace – gratitude – and how it should shape our financial management.

Now we will take a look at another truth of the gospel, that should have a major impact on our finances. The gospel is a call to faith and obedience, in which we are empowered to be imitators of Christ! In a number of places in the New Testament, we find this command:

“Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.” ~ 1 Corinthians 11:1

“You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit” ~ 1 Thessalonians 1:6

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children” ~ Ephesians 5:1

We are saved by God’s grace – in part, being transformed from being salves to sin, to now being slaves of Christ. Thankfully, God has also given us His Holy Spirit, in part to aid in our sanctification! That means that we are now being conformed to the image of Christ, and we are commanded to be imitators of Christ!

Since many books have been written out this subject, I’ll only focus on how this should impact our money management.

Willing To Give Up All He Had For Our Benefit

When Christ left heaven to take on the form of a man, in order to redeem His bride, he put aside much. Take a look at what the bible says about Christ becoming a man:

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ~ Philippians 2:5-8

…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. ~ Matthew 20:28

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. ~ 2 Corinthians 8:9

Jesus Christ came down to earth and did not try to hold on to all of His divine attributes when He took the form of a man. We are told that He became a servant, and gave His life for many. He humbled Himself to the point that He was willing to temporarily give up “equality with God“, endure human hardships and temptations, live a perfect life, and become sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21)!

Here is how John MacArthur describes Christ’s self-emptying (kenosis):

This was a self-renunciation, not an emptying Himself of deity nor an exchange of deity for humanity. Jesus did, however, renounce or set aside His privileges in several areas:

1. 1) Heavenly glory – while on earth He gave up the glory of a face-to-face relationship with God and the continuous outward display and personal enjoyment of that glory (cf. John 17:5)
2. 2) Independent authority – during His incarnation Christ completely submitted Himself to the will of His Father (cf. Matthew 26:39; John 5:30, Hebrews 5:8)
3. 3) Divine prerogatives – He set aside the voluntary display of His divine attributes and submitted Himself to the Spirit’s direction (cf. Matthew 24:36; John 1:45-49)
4. 4) Eternal Riches – while on earth Christ was poor and owned very little (cf. 2 Corinthians 8:9) and…
5. 5) A favorable relationship with God – He felt the Father’s wrath for human sin while on the cross (cf. Matthew 27:46; 2 Corinthians 5:21)

~ The MacArthur Study Bible, pg 1792; notes on Philippians 2:7 (emptied Himself)

Imitate Christ’s Willingness To Give Up All

Jesus Christ was willing to give up all that He had in order to fulfill the Father’s will. That needs to be our attitude as well. We should be willing to give up all that we have – money, position, prestige, rank, power, and wealth – in order to further God’s kingdom, and to fulfill His will!

In our last article, we talked about a number ways in which you can be show your gratitude for God’s grace. At least two of those areas can lead to great ways for us to be imitators of Christ!

Giving to the local church

When it comes to God’s plan, he does much through the local church. We are taught God’s word by the faithful men who serve as elders/pastors/overseers – Ephesians 4:11-12 tells us that God gave gifts to us in the form of pastors and teachers, so that we would be equipped to serve God, and built up!

Here is what the bible says about financially supporting these men:

The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” ~ 1 Timothy 5:17-18

Also, the church is the institution that trains and ordains preachers, supports missionaries, and works to spread the gospel! Another obligation of the church is to provide support for “widows indeed” (those who fit the qualifications of 1 Timothy 5:3-10).

None of those things can be done unless we, as members of the body, learn to imitate Christ and be willing to give all that we have to fulfill God’s will.

Now, before anyone thinks that I am advocating that all Christians sell everything they have and give it to the church and live together in a compound, consider this: It is God’s will that we work hard (2 Thessalonians 3:6-13), provide for our household (1 Timothy 5:8), and even pay taxes to the ruling government (Romans 13:1-7). You can’t be in God’s will if you are not doing these things along with supporting your local church!

In order to further God’s kingdom, and to support the church for which Christ died, and is also its head, we must be willing to give of all that we have!

Helping Those In Need

This is another way in which we are to imitate Christ. He humbled Himself and experienced the anxieties and temptations that come with living a human life (cf. Hebrews 4:15 and Matthew 26:36-44)! The triune God (The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) was perfectly complete and satisfied before creating the world and the human race, yet, Christ still humbled Himself and took the form of a servant, in order to redeem us!

We should be willing to humble ourselves in such a way, to help out a brother or sister. We should constantly look for ways to help out one another, whether though our church, or individually.

We are commanded to:

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important that [our]selves. ~ Philippians 2:3

In order to do this, we must be willing to give up some of the riches and possessions that we would be able to acquire if we used all of God’s provision on ourselves!

However, the point is that we must be will to live a meager life if it means that we have a larger impact on the kingdom because of it. We know that God will always provide for us, so we should never allow fear or selfishness to deter us from doing God’s will.

What You Can Do To Manage Your Finances As An Imitator Of Christ

• Examine your heart for any areas of pride and selfishness, repent of those sins, and ask God to help you be humble and selfless
• Study all of the scripture quoted and referred to in this article and meditate on them daily
• Look for opportunities to serve in your local church
• Make sure that your lifestyle isn’t stopping you from financially supporting your church and/or helping others
• Make giving the most important line item in your budget
• Examine all of your purchases and monthly bills, and ask yourself if you can cut back in some areas in order to put God first
• Read the first two articles (part 1 & part 2) in this series and meditate on the scripture listed there
• If you have any questions, be sure to leave a comment

This is our second article in a series that takes a look at how a proper understanding of the gospel should influence how we manage our finances. In the first article, we examined the fact that we are now slaves of Christ, and merely stewards of God’s resources.

Now, we will take a look at the means of our salvation – God’s grace.

Saved By Grace

A major truth of the gospel is the fact that we are all sinners who have transgressed the law of God, and therefore are deserving of hell.

God is perfect, holy, and righteous, meaning that He cannot be in the presence of sin, nor can He overlook it. In Exodus 34:6-7b we find the following description of God’s character (given by God Himself):

Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;7who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished…

The fact that He is just and righteous means that He must punish those who break His law, and His holiness and purity prevent Him from having fellowship with anyone of a sinful nature.

All Men Continually Sin Against God

Since we all commit sin and have a sinful nature, there is nothing that we can do to earn God’s favor or forgiveness. In Psalm 14:2-3, we are told that…

The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;there is no one who does good, not even one.

Also, in Romans 3:23 we are reminded that, “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God“!

It Is Impossible For Us To Reach God’s Standard

Just in case we still think (after reading the descriptions of God and man above) that we can somehow live a righteous enough life in order to please God and cause Him to overlook our sins, the bible also has this to say:

For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. ~ Isaiah 64:6

Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. ~ Matthew 5:48

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. ~ James 2:10

This means that it is impossible for anyone to do anything to earn God’s favor. God’s standard is perfection, and one sin is enough to incur His wrath. Furthermore, we are sinners by nature and could never life a sinless life!

The Perfect Substitute

However, because of God’s love for us, He extended His grace toward us by sending Jesus Christ to “become sin for us” and bear The Father’s wrath against our sin on the cross!

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:21

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ~ Romans 5:8

But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities…All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. Isaiah 53:5a & 6

But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors. Isaiah 53:10a,11 & 12c

As you can see in the passages above, Christ took all of our sin upon Himself on the cross, and it pleased God the Father to pour out His wrath against our sin. Jesus Christ bore the punishment and wrath of our sin on the cross and then the Father raised Him from the dead to show that He was satisfied (see 1 John 2:1-2) with the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf.

In order to have the sacrifice of Christ “applied” to our account with God, we must come to God realizing that we are sinners who deserve His wrath, and there is nothing that we can do to please Him. Then we are commanded to believe by faith, all that the bible says about God, our sin, our nature, and the only means of salvation (see John 14:6, John 3:36, & Hebrews 2:3). After which, we are “born again” and given a new nature, so that we are now able to be obedient to the will of God and all that His word commands:

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17

Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ~ John 3:3

The fact that we have been born again, transformed, and given a new nature, means that we now have the power to obey God’s word, and to defeat sin! God has taken us from weak, dirty, defiled people who were His enemies (Romans 5:10), to those who “overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37)!

Sanctification And Serving God

What’s so amazing about our salvation is that we not only have been saved from God’s wrath, and given a new home in Heaven, but we are being sanctified (made holy and set apart for God’s use) so that we can glorify God! As I mentioned above, we have the ability to overcome temptation and sin, and instead, work to fulfill the will of our new master!

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. ~ Ephesians 2:10

Look at how Paul explains our new life in Romans 6:

4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.

14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

So, as part of our sanctification, we are made free from the bondage of sin, and given the power to walk in a new, full life, devoted to pleasing our new master!

Amazing Grace

Of course, the subject of the gospel, salvation, and God’s amazing grace cannot be contained to a single article or even a book. But, even with the things we’ve looked at so far, I can’t help but to be amazed and overwhelmed by God’s love and grace toward unworthy sinners!

Our salvation was all of God and none of us! There was nothing that we could do to deserve it, and there is nothing that we can do to keep it! It is simply because

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. ~ Ephesians 2:8-9

Gratitude: Our Response To God’s Grace

As Romans 6:19 (written out above) says, we are to, “present [our] members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification“. In response to God’s grace, we are to submit ourselves as living sacrifices to God (cf. Romans 12:1), devoting all that we have and all that we are back to Him!

Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. ~ Colossians 2:6-7

The bible says that we are to be “overflowing with gratitude“! This gratitude should make us willing to give up all that we have for the sake of Christ and His kingdom. Instead of just being slaves and stewards, we now understand the extent of God’s grace, and that fact makes us jump at every opportunity to serve Him!

We must allow our gratitude toward God’s love and grace to compel us to honor the Lord with our finances! Hear what the Apostle Paul had to say about being controlled/compelled by Christ’s love:

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died ~ 2 Corinthians 5:14

The first thing that should change once we consider God’s amazing grace is that we should commit everything in our possession to God! We said last time that we are slaves of Christ, and as such, merely stewards of His provision. However, now that we understand grace, we are to go running to God, casting all that we have and all that we are at His feet!

Helping Those In Need

We should be so generous with our money, because we are motivated by our gratitude toward God! We should be eager to help the poor, making it a priority to seek out opportunities to bless others! When we think about God’s grace toward us, it causes us to manage our money with a sense of humility – especially toward one less fortunate than us!

If someone is in a rough situation due to their own poor judgment or financial mismanagement, instead of assigning blame and feeling self-righteous – as we walk away without offering assistance – God’s grace toward miserable, wicked sinners will cause us to look at our brother with love and compassion.

Giving To The Local Church

Also, this gratitude should motivate us in our giving to our local church! We should be cheerful givers, excited because we have an opportunity to give something back to God, after understanding just how much He gave to us! By supporting the institution which has Christ as its head, we take part in the dispensation of God’s grace!

We help to support the preaching of God’s word, the edifying of believers, fellowship, missionaries, and any other program your church believes will honor God!

What Christ did for us on the cross should cause us to drop any apprehension we have about obeying God’s command to give double honor (basically, meaning greater esteem and monetary support) to the elders of the church who rule well.

In Our Purchases

Our gratitude toward God should motivate us to only make wise purchases with His money! We shouldn’t take the attitude that since we work hard to earn “our” money, that we should be able to spend it on whatever indulgences we wish!

We understand that in God’s grace, he made provision for us to be able to support ourselves and our families, and also support the work of His kingdom. Each purchase should be examined to make sure it lines up with those purposes!

In Our Homes

How we manage our money – especially in regards to giving – can be a great opportunity to remind ourselves of God’s grace. It can also be a great teaching opportunity – similar to how the Israelites used eating the Passover meal in order to teach their children about God’s deliverance!

If every purchase has to be examined, and giving is a priority, God’s grace will continue to hold an important place in your home, heart, and lives, and God will be glorified!

Practical Steps To Allow Grace And Gratitude To Govern Your Finances

• Meditate on all that salvation involves (God’s holiness & justice, our sinfulness, Christ becoming sin for us, the Father pouring His wrath out on the Son, etc) daily!
• In all of your prayers, thank God for His gift of grace!
• If you have had a self-righteous attitude toward your brother who was in need, repent of that sin and ask God to change your perspective in light of His grace.
• Make giving to your local church the priority line in your budget.
• Make sure every purchase is examined to make sure it is motivated by gratitude.

Pray about this often – don’t let it leave your mind as soon as you go on to read the next article. Make sure that you are living a life that honors God in every aspect (1 Corinthians 10:31), especially with your finances!

In my time with God this morning I read through Philippians and came across a great passage about generosity that I wanted to share.

Sometimes I view giving as something I give up (money, time, possessions) rather than something I gain (joy, treasure in heaven, satisfaction).   Can you relate to that?

Now don’t get me wrong, our motivation for giving shouldn’t be the gain.  Our motivation should come from the Gospel – the fact that Christ gave up everything for us so that we might gain all the riches of heaven (2 Cor. 8:9).

Here’s what Paul says to the Philippian church about their generosity:

As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this.  Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once.  I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness. 

At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God.  And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.  (Phil. 4:15-18, NLT)

Generosity is a Sacrifice That Pleases God

There’s no question that in order to be generous, we usually have to give something up.  We do make sacrifices.  We do say no to new cars, or bigger homes, or expensive jewelry in order to give away more money.

But God is pleased.  It’s a beautiful aroma to our Heavenly Father.  Paul describes the Philippian’s generosity as a sweet-smelling sacrifice. 

Generosity Leads to Reward

Paul is praising the Philippian church, not because he wants more gifts (he tells them he’s all set), but rather because he wants them to be rewarded.

When Paul says I want you to receive a reward, he is using a business term to say, “I want you to receive a profit that accrues to your account”.  You should be rewarded by God for the way you have been so generous to me.

I don’t know about you, but I’m blown away by that!  Even though we sacrfice to give to others, we are given a reward in return. 

Generous People Won’t Outgive God 

Paul tells the Philippian church not to worry about their needs because God will meet them.  God met Paul’s needs through the Philippian’s generosity.  The Philippians received the joy of giving.  Now their needs will be met as well.

And there’s the paradox.  It would seem like the more we sacrifice, the worse off we’d be.  After all, we are giving up money that we could use on other things.

And yet the reality is that the more we give, the more reward we receive.  The more we sacrifice, the more God will meet our every need because He has an endless supply!  It’s from His glorious riches that all our needs are met!

Hard to Believe, Isn’t It?

It seems unlikely that the more you give, the more your needs will be met.  Or that the more you sacrifice, the more you receive in return.  In our human, finite minds it seems so backwards.  And yet, this is how God works!

We live in a sea of stinginess, so let this be an encouragment to stretch yourself in radical generosity for God’s kingdom as He graciously meets all your needs and gives you joy in the process!

A couple weeks ago we started looking at the teaching of Jonathan Edwards on money and giving to the poor.  In part 1 we saw Edwards’ challenge to think more deeply about the poor and how our giving could be done more:

• Generously
• Cheerfully, and
• Dutifully

For a man who lived nearly three centuries ago, he offers some great insight on giving that is very relevant for us in our society.  Here’s what we can learn from him in part 2:

Giving to the Poor Shows God’s Heart for the Underprivileged

Edwards doesn’t pull any punches.  He challenges our American Dream mentality by saying things like:

Tis the most absolute and indispensable duty of a people of God to give bountifully and willingly for the supply of the wants of the needy.

In Edwards’ mind, giving to the poor is a non-negotiable.  And it’s something done with a willing heart, just like the Father’s heart of love for the poor, weak, and marginalized of society.

To help them, and to contribute to their relief is the most natural expression of this love.

Giving to the poor is a great witness to the world of God’s radical love for us.

Love Without Action Doesn’t Demonstrate God’s Love

Edwards wants us to understand something very fundamental when being a minister of mercy.  If you only love others with the Word, and do not meet their physical needs, that is not love at all.   This is not how God loves us.  His love is very action-oriented.

Edwards says,

It is vain to pretend to a spirit of love to our neighbors, when it is grievous to us to part with anything for their help, when under calamity.

They who love only in word, and in tongue, and not in deed, have no love in truth. Any profession without it is a vain pretense.

Let’s Love Others As Much As We Love Ourselves 

We love ourselves enough to hardly allow our situation to become unbearable without reaching for help. 

We shouldn’t allow the poor’s circumstances to prevent us from giving.  We should rather put ourselves in their shoes.  If roles were reversed, would we not want others to help us sooner rather than later?

To refuse to give to the needy, is unreasonable, because we therein do to others contrary to what we would have others to do to us in like circumstances.

We are very sensible of our own calamities. And when we suffer, [we] are ready enough to think, that our state requires the compassion and help of others; and are ready enough to think it hard, if others will not deny themselves in order to help us when in straits.

In part 3 we’ll look at what Edwards says about our motivation for giving to the poor.

What Are Your Thoughts About Edwards and Giving to the Poor?

Jonathan Edwards is perhaps the greatest American preacher to have ever lived.  It’s hard to find someone more often quoted, referenced, and revered in American church history than Edwards.

Most famous for his, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” sermon, Edwards had a deep compassion for the poor. 

Though he lived nearly 300 years ago, he offers some great insight in terms of generosity and charity that we would do well to consider.

In his sermon entitled The Duty of Charity to the Poor, Explained and Enforced dated 1732, Edwards offers some challenging words.

Giving to the Poor Should Be Done Generously

It is the duty of the people of God to give bountifully for the aforesaid purpose. It is commanded once and again in the text, “Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy poor brother.”

Merely to give something is not sufficient. It answers not the rule, nor comes up to the holy command of God. But we must open our hand wide. What we give, considering our neighbor’s wants, and our ability, should be such as may be called a liberal gift.

What is meant in the text by opening the hand wide, with respect to those that are able, is explained in Deu. 15:8, “Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his want, in that which he needeth.”

By lending here, as is evident by the two following verses, and as we have just now shown, is not only meant lending to receive again; [for] the word lend in Scripture is sometimes used for giving; as in Luke 6:35, “Do good and lend, hoping for nothing again.”

Giving to the Poor Should Be Done Cheerfully

Edwards says:

It is the duty of the visible people of God to give for the supply of the needy, freely, and without grudging. It doth not at all answer the rule in the sight of God, if it be done with an inward grudging, or if the heart be grieved, and it inwardly hurt the man to give what he gives.

“Thou shalt surely give,” says God, “and thine heart shall not be grieved.” God looks at the heart, and the hand is not accepted without it. 2 Cor. 9:7, “Every man according as he hath purposed in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

Giving to the Poor Should Be Done Dutifully

Edwards says that giving to the poor isn’t something that we simply do to be nice, it is a command of Scripture:

This is a duty to which God’s people are under very strict obligation. It is not merely a commendable thing for a man to be kind and bountiful to the poor, but our bounden duty, as much a duty as it is to pray, or to attend public worship, or anything else whatever. And the neglect of it brings great guilt upon any person.

How Should We Respond?

Notice that Edwards says it is as much a duty to give to the poor as it is to pray or worship.  Those are strong words!  So how should we respond?

1. Repent from any lack of generous giving – this probably means recognizing there will need to be lifestyle changes and a reorientation back to the gospel.
2. Commit to God and to others (friends, family, a pastor, etc) that you’ll start giving generously – leave a note in the comment section if you’d like to share how you plan to change.
3. Start living with open hands and open hearts – create a generous budget and find people you can help (whether a single mom struggling to make ends meet, or an elderly neighbor on a fixed income, or someone else)

Share your story of giving in the comments below to motivate and encourage the rest of us!

Check out Part 2 Here!

I’ve talked a lot about generosity on this site.  It’s kind of a “pet” topic of mine simply because I believe it should be a hallmark trait of Christians around the globe.

I’m sure many of us would tend to think we are generous people.  After all, we tip 20% at restaurants, give money regularly to the church, and donate our old clothes to Gooodwill once a year.

But how many of us would label ourselves as being radically generous?

Unfortunately, we tend to navigate toward stinginess.  I know I need some work in this area, and I’m guessing you do too. 

So let’s take a look at what radical generosity is, why we should be radically generous, and then a few ideas on how to become more radically generous.

What is Radical Generosity?

I would define radical generosity as sacrificial giving to meet the needs of others. 

Notice the word sacrificial.  Most of us give something to church, or pull out a few coins or crumpled dollar bills when passing by the homeless - but how many of us actually sacrifice things we really want to give more to others.

Radical generosity then is proactively and purposely renouncing consumerism to create a better life for others.  It means we strive to live a life of simplicity.

Pastor J.R. Vassar describes simplicity as,

Simplicity is eliminating the things that stand in the way of the future your generosity could create. You can’t see it as going without – it is not negating; it is creating. Simplicity is cultivating a modest lifestyle – renouncing soft-living and self-absorption, and consumerism, so you have enough resources to contribute to the lives of others.

As Christians, we should be ready to renounce this world and its motivation for more possessions, power, and money and be ready and willing to embrace a simple, generous life.

Why Be Radically Generous?

But why?  Why should Christian eliminate consumerism and self-absorption as Vassar says?  What is our motivation in being radically generous?

Here’s a couple of reasons:

Because Jesus was radically generous

Christ is our greatest example of radical generosity.  God is in the business of changing hearts and lives so we can become more like his Son, Jesus Christ.

We need to look no further than the one we are to emulate.  This is how Paul describes what Christ did for us:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.  2 Corinthians 8:9

 Jesus gave up all the riches of heaven and became a lowly baby.  He took on human flesh and became poor.  Why?  So that by his poverty we might become rich!

Jesus gave up everything, even his own life, so that we might be reconciled to God. 

Spiritual growth happens when we are radically generous

Pastor Tim Keller says, “There can be no significant spiritual growth unless you put your money and your attitude toward it into God’s hands.”

Unless we put our money into the hands of God through “eye-popping” generosity and becoming less stingy, we won’t experience deep spiritual growth.

Radical generosity is a loud proclamation of the Gospel

A radically generous lifestyle is so counter-cultural, especially in the West.  We love our excess don’t we?  But as Christians who long to see the world come to know our great Savior, we have a tremendous opportunity to broadcast this radically generous God  who loves us and redeemed us to the world.

As we encounter a God who is extreme in His generosity and let the gospel take root in our lives, we are freed to become poor and meet the needs of others. 

Just like Christ who poured his own life out to help us, we now can pour out our own life through sacrificial giving to help others.

How Can We Become More Generous?

So how can we become more generous?  Here’s a few things to consider:

1. Ask God to reveal where you’ve been excessive in your life.
2. Turn away from your consumerism and develop a deeper love for Christ and the Gospel.
3. Get yourself in position to become more radically generous by paying off credit card debt, or other liabilities.
4. Develop a generous budget.

What are your thoughts?

• Do you agree that Christians should be radically generous?
• What have you done to become more radically generous?