A giving Heart

The moment a minister starts talking about “Giving” already a lot races through our minds, due to past negative experiences, erroneous teachings, and dealings we have seen in the body of Christ. I believe there needs to be a correction and teaching in the church pertaining to giving and receiving. My sole aim in this article is for us to understand the basic principle of giving and its foundation. There is more teaching around the topic which I would urge that you also search out and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in understanding.

As much as there are laws that govern the cosmos such as the law of motion which states “what goes up must come down” i.e. when you throw a ball in the air it is certain that it will fall back to the ground, there are also spiritual laws that govern the affairs of men, and one such law is found in Galatians 6:7 which says “for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” This spiritual principle is by far the greatest there is, when you plant a seed it will certainly produce a harvest.

When Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden, God set a redemptive plan in motion and used this very same principle of increase to reap. God wanted man back to himself and God gave his only begotten son as a seed in order to reap more sons. Jesus foretells this redemptive plan to his disciples in a parable, in the same breath he also reveals this kingdom mystery in John 12:24 saying “Truly, truly, I say to you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it stays alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit.” Our father’s inherent nature is that of a giver, if we are to look at an example of a giver we should look at God. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that He gave his only son”

This mystery is one the world does not understand, however, if we are to always be at the receiving end we need to grasp it because all mysteries have been given to us as written in Matthew 3:11 “knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them“.

The world says when giving something away you no longer have it, but the word of God says when giving something away it does not decrease a person’s assets, it increases them. The principle teaches that every gift you give becomes an invisible miracle force that draws back to you multiplied. King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 11:1 says “cast your bread and it will return.’ He observed this spiritual law and penned it down after careful consideration with the manifold wisdom bestowed upon him. Jesus again taught in the book of Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” seed in the spiritual realm, is harvest in the natural realm.

Seed in the spiritual realm, is harvest in the natural realm

So what is the first step that we can take to start walking in this mystery?

The first step is to give yourself, God wants all of you your heart, your mind, your soul, your will before you can give your resources. This is where we struggle as believers; our every being is oftentimes not surrendered to the Lord and the resultant effect is that we struggle when we have to give our materials. Apostle Paul mentions in Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship."

We must remember that God is not poor he does not survive on donations, Haggai 2:8 says “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.” God disposes of these resources as he sees fit but He only wants one thing and that is you, once you are fully surrendered, material resources easily follow suit. This act of giving draws us closer to God and it mimics the heart of the father because he gave himself by giving Jesus, creation itself is from God James 1:17 says “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” We can thus conclude that giving is also a matter of the heart and once our hearts are surrendered to God, he works in us and we, in turn, become like Him – generous givers.

Shalom: Kay King