Today’s devotion is based off of week 3 of Unlikely Heroes: A Widow (WATCH HERE)
What keeps us from being more generous with our financial resources?
Certainly we have to guard our hearts against greed and love of money, which is a root of all kinds of evil, but I wonder if one of the key reasons we hesitate to be generous with our giving to the Lord is fear.
Fear I won’t have enough.
Fear the bills won’t get paid.
Fear I won’t be able to retire.
Money can be a security blanket for us, which does challenge us to evaluate our heart and ask, “Am I trusting money for things I should be trusting God for?”
The giving of the tithe was and still is an exercise in trust. It was a beginning point that God challenged his people to return to him through their offerings a tenth of all they made. As they gave the tithe, they were challenged to trust and not fear that they would not have enough if they gave ten percent to the LORD first.
What did they discover?
God challenged them and God blessed them. Here’s Malachi 3:8ff
8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed,for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
Growing in the grace of giving is growing in our trust in the LORD and driving out the fear from our hearts.
This promise that the LORD gives through Malachi is one that I personally have experienced and know other Christians have as well. When you simply decide to honor the LORD by giving 10% to him through your local church, you a) learn to trust he will provide and b) you learn to adjust your cravings for things and live on the 90% that remains. Part B maybe is the challenge because decisions have been made that have increased debt or financial responsibilities. It’s hard to say “No” to eating out or a new TV or a new car. We can feel a sense of entitlement that we deserve it or we “need” to have it. Marketing and advertising are not our friends as they seek to instill discontent and communicate you are missing out on something in life if you don’t buy their product.
For sure the issue can be complex and one may need help learning to better manage one’s financial wealth.
But perhaps this morning let your prayer be this, “Lord, help me to trust you in all things…including my finances so that I can joyfully and regularly give a tenth of my income to you through my church for the work of spreading the Gospel.” And see how God both enables you to do this and blesses you through it!
Apply: Evaluate today how much you make and what percentage of your income you are giving to the LORD through your local church (the primary recipient of the tithe). Begin to ask the Lord’s guidance to increase that from where you are to the 10%…and maybe even beyond!
Prayer: Lord, forgive me for robbing you by not bringing offerings to you. Forgive me for a lack of trust in you and trusting my wealth more. Help me to trust you in all things, especially my finances so that I can joyfully and regularly give a tenth of my income to you through my church. AMEN.
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