GIVING

WHAT ISYOURATTITUDE?

ALLEN AND JEAN decided to enroll in a Crown Ministries small group study to learn what the Scriptures teach about money.

A couple of months after the group started, I met Allen for breakfast. He told me how much the study meant to him, and then sheepishly confessed, “I’ve never had any desire to give money. Now that I understand what the Bible has to say about it, I want to give, but I’m frustrated.

How can I possibly decide where to give? It seems as if my mailbox is constantly filled with appeals. There are so many needs. I feel guilty that perhaps we’re not giving enough. And sometimes I become cynical because I feel I’m manipulated subtly by people whose goals may be worthwhile but whose means of achieving those goals are questionable.”

I knew what Allen was experiencing. I used to be as frustrated as he was. Since learning what Scripture says about giving, the Holy Spirit has been changing my attitudes, and I have experienced the blessings of giving. Indeed, giving has been the most liberating area in my Christian experience. The Old and New Testaments place a great deal of emphasis on It is more blessed to give than to receive.

JESUS CHRIST FROM ACTS 20:35 giving. In fact, there are more verses related to giving than any other subject on money. There are commands, practical suggestions, examples and exhortations concerning this facet of stewardship. Everywhere in the Bible covetousness and greed are condemned, and generosity and charity are encouraged. ATTITUDE IN GIVING Giving with the proper attitude is crucial. First Corinthians 13:3 reads, “If I give all my possessions to feed the poor . . . but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”

It is hard to imagine anything more commendable than giving everything to the poor. But if it is done with the wrong attitude, without love, it is of no benefit to the giver. The Lord set the example of giving motivated by love. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16, italics added). Note the sequence: Because God loved, He gave.