The Blessing of Giving

In a world of consumeristic mindset, we tend to give or invest only when we get benefits in return. It was considered giving as loss and receiving as gain in our society. We always ask God to fill our cups with overflowing but we hesitate to empty our cups for the sake of God. But Jesus has emphasized more on giving than receiving as Apostle Paul claims in Acts 20 : 35 that Jesus says 

"It is more blessed to give than to receive". 

Though giving is often associated with money, Jesus has talked about giving not only in terms of money but our time, energy, resources and our lives. He did not separate our lives from giving. After the creation of mankind, the first offering to God was given by Abel and Cain. Genesis 4:3-4 says 

"Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil...... while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock....". 

It clearly shows that Abel had given himself to the Lord (more than his offering) by giving Him utmost priority of his life by offering the best portions of his flock. Though Cain is also interested in offering to Lord, he did not have a heart to give first and foremost place to God and thereby offered only some of the fruit of the soil. God is not interested to settle only in some areas of your lives, He is looking for your utmost attention and priority by complete surrender as Abel did as it says in Genesis 4:4-5 

"God looked with favor on Abel....... but no regard for Cain" 

Even when Jesus saw a poor widow offering all she had, it drew the attention of Jesus as He says in Mark 12 : 44

"Everyone gave some out of their wealth but the poor widow gave all she had to live on in spite of her poverty." 

God looks at the intention of your giving more than your offering. The Almighty God does not need our giving to build his kingdom but He yearns to have our utmost love as He himself gave his one and only begotten son on the cross to redeem us from our sins. We often wonder how much are we supposed to give ? When people confessed their sins and asked John what are they supposed to do ? I often wonder why John says to give one shirt to the poor, if you have only two instead of three. It shows that we are supposed to look at the needs of others the same way we look at the needs of ourselves. Bible talks a lot about giving than any other subject as it is full of examples with people, who have offered sacrificially to the Lord and people, who are stingy in their offering.     

In our christendom, we can observe people, who falls in four categories of giving.

Ungiving - people who are not willing to give though God bless them abundantly

Limited Giving - people who are willing to give only some of what God has given them like Cain did

Liberal Giving  - people who are willing to give generously, but only after their needs are met 

Sacrificial Giving - people who are willing to offer sacrificially in spite of their own needs being unmet like the poor widow.

We are so sincere and committed to things where we can have benefits in return but we think a lot to invest in things where we don't get anything in return, though it is beneficial to others. But Jesus says in Luke 6 : 35 

"Love your enemies. Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting anything in return " 

Let us examine our lives, where are we in terms of our giving to the Lord. Are we willing to give to the works of the Lord, poor and needy sacrificially without expecting anything in return or we are stingy in our offerings in spite of all the blessings that God has blessed with ? Let us pray God to transform our hearts to the point of sacrificial giving and be a blessing to the people around us.

Vulnerability and Illusion of Power, Fame and Wealth

Power, wealth, and fame are the some of the factors, which are considered to be successful in our modern society. We put lot of our efforts, time, and energy to achieve these factors to be successful in our lives. Though it seems to be very attractive, enticing and captivating, it will soon end up in fleeting pleasure and makes you empty. Solomon, who has enjoyed all the pleasures of the world with incredible wealth, power and intelligence says in all his wisdom

"Everything is fleeting and meaningless .............under the sun".   

In other words, if we become self sufficient with our achievements and wealth and take God out of the picture, whatever great your achievement can be, whatsoever wealth you acquire, it will be meaningless and fleeting. Though God does not oppose us to be wealthy or to achieve great things as He is the source of all blessings, He wants us to seek Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and trust Him alone, who can satisfy our spiritual, emotional and physical needs. Though it is not evil to have wealth or power or fame, it makes you vulnerable to be self sufficient and turn away from God, if your heart is not right with God. There are many servants of God, who has been chosen by God, but failed to withstand against the temptations of power and wealth, yielded to the fleeting pleasures, turned away from God with tragic ending by ruining their lives. Jeroboam was one such example, whom God has chosen to be the king of Israel. Though he was very diligent and industrious and capable leader, he failed to trust in God and obey his commands. He started off well but ended up in a tragic manner. Initially, he did not chase after power and relied on God though everything around him seems to be contradicting to the promise he received from the Lord. After becoming a king, he failed to trust in God, started to be anxious in securing his power and life and set up a religion of his own convenience, misleading the people of Israel from the ways of God. Even though God gave him second chance to repent by sending a man of God to Jeroboam,  he rebelled against God instead of repenting from his sins, and eventually, lost his power, life and brought disaster on the people of Israel.

Even in our lives, God might have blessed us with lot of riches and blessings of the world. But our attitude towards the worldly riches reflects our relationship with God. Sometimes, we may feel self sufficient with all the riches God has given us and feel secured in our wealth and achievements, thereby failing to honor God with our lives. You don't even need to be a wealthy person to fall into the traps of worldly riches, you can be moderate in your economic status, but if your heart is not right with God, you may soon succumb to the traps of the worldly riches. God might have given us second chances or warned us to set right our lives, how are we responding to God's warning? Are we still rebelling against God or repenting from our sins ? God sent Samuel to confront Saul, but Saul did not admit and repent from his sins and lost track of God's purpose for his life. God sent Nathan to confront David, David was broken in his spirit and repented from his sins. Though David did great sins of murder and adultery compared to Saul and Jeroboam, God forgave David when he repented and called him "a man after God's own heart". No matter, how dreadful our sins are, God is willing to restore us, but are we willing to confess and repent from our sins ?  Let us examine our attitude towards the worldly riches and reflect on our relationship with Jesus lest we may lose track of our vision and fall into the temptations of wealth, fame and power.