What I learnt about giving?

“A living church is a giving church.”

A young man said that he does not want to go to church because the pastor is always talkng about giving back to God. He could not understand the meaning of giving. Neither does he understand that a Christian need to give to be spiritually alive.

A wise old man told him this story:

” My wife and I spent so much on hospital and maternity care since my son was conceived. After he was borned we spent even more money. We had to buy new clothes, pampers, milk and toys.  Later we had to enroll him in kindergarten, schools and college. The cost of keeping my son alive and making sure he grows physically and in other skills kept going higher and higher till we wiped out our life savings.”

“Two years ago, my son died from a road traffic accident. All of a sudden our cost of living dropped dramatically and we were able to save more money for our retirement”, the old man continued his story.

Turning to the young man he asked, ” Would you rather that I continue to spend money and have my son by my side or have a bigger bank account with a dead child?”

“God prospers us not to raise our standard of living but to rasie our standard of giving”

The error of the false doctrine of Prosperity Gospel.-They preach that we should give so that God will give us back more for our selfish living

The correct doctrine is: We give and we get so that we can be more generous in giving

2 Corinthian 9: 9-11 (NIV)

As it is written:  “He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;  his righteousness endures forever.”

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

“We give and get and we can’t out give God”

50% of Jesus’s parable deals with money and giving . Why? Because to many people, “money is their god”

Many people are financially strapped simply because they are not giving.

There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and [there is] that withholdeth more than is meet, but [it tendeth] to poverty.  The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.  (Proverb 11: 24-25)

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.  (Luke 6:38)

We should give sacrificially

For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. (2 Cor 8:9)

“Gladly I would make the floor my bed, a box, my chair, use another box for a table rather than suffer men to perish eternally for want of knowledge of Christ. ” CT Studd

Statistics about Christian Giving.

• 12 % of all born again believers give faithfully
• 65% of all born again believers give haphazardly
• 23% of all born again believers give nothing at all

 Funds are low again, hallelujah! That means God trusts us and is willing to leave His reputation in our hands.  (CT Studd)