Godly Giving II
Obedient and Abundant Giving
Intro
The tithe is the first of four levels of Godly Giving. At this first level you give as a testimony that God owns everything. I believe God's Word shows you that the tithe is the minimum testimony for any Christian. However, Godly Giving goes well beyond the tithe.
The second giving level is giving out of obedience.
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Giving out of obedience is giving with others who are in need out of a conviction that they shouldn't be without.
The logic for giving out of obedience is very straightforward. As a Christian, you predetermine that you will do what God tells you to do—right? And, recall that God will hold you accountable to do what He tells you to do.
With this in mind, recall that God tells you in James 2:15-16, "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?"
When God places the needs of others on your heart and you help supply those needs, you are giving out of obedience. Maybe it's the need of a Christian organization you know and support. Perhaps it's the victim of some natural disaster. Or, it might involve helping to meet the needs of someone in your community, or in your church-including your pastor or someone on your church staff.
One thing you will always find: When God lays a need on you heart He has already given you the ability and the resources to help meet some part of that need—maybe not the whole need but for sure some part of the whole need. So, when you act on felt needs, you are acting in obedience, out of love for Jesus. You are giving out of obedience.
Giving out of obedience is summed up very nicely this way: "What you can do you should do. In a world that couldn't care less, you need to be a person who couldn't care more."
The third giving level is to give from your abundance.
God gives you many verses related to giving from your abundance. Two really hit home for me. First is 2 Corinthians 8:11-12 where you see that God expects you to give according to what you have, not according to what you do not have.
But then in 2 Corinthians 8:14 you find, "At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: He who gathered much did not have too much and he who gathered little did not have too little." Therefore, to give from your abundance means you have much and you want to share with others who need much.
Giving from your abundances requires two things: You must have both an abundance to give and a plan to give the abundance. But you say, "Sounds good, Bob, but first things first. I don't have much. I don't even have enough! How am I supposed to be able to give from my abundance when I'm struggling to meet my own needs?"
The answer is you need to create a surplus. How? By adjusting your standard of living. More specifically, you establish a surplus by applying God's Word into your heart, onto paper in the form of a written plan, and then put that plan to work in your daily living. You create a surplus by learning to live a more disciplined life-by learning to spend less than you make.
Then, you need a plan. You need both an abundance (surplus) to give and a plan to give the abundance. Here again you may be thinking, "Bob, I already live on a budget. I already live a disciplined life. But I still don't have a surplus to give."
Well, it could be that God has not given you a surplus to give because you don't have a plan to give the surplus if you had it. You see, God knows your heart. He knows that you might be tempted to spend your abundance on yourself or store it away. Remember the foolish farmer, building new barns and all? All of us have the tendency to do the same thing. If we end up with an abundance, a surplus, we tend to store it away in our "barns" (checking and savings accounts, investments, etc.).
How do you make a plan to give from you abundance? It's easy. Simply write down on a piece of paper how you promise to distribute your surplus should God send it your way. Then post that paper where you can see it as a reminder to you of the promise you made to God. And remember; it is better not to make a promise to God than to make it and not keep it.
So far we have talked about the first three giving levels—the tithe, giving out of obedience, and giving from our abundance. Next time we will look at sacrificial giving-the fourth and final level of Godly Giving.
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Bob Louder is the Founder and President of Christian Financial Ministries (www.good-steward.org). Bob is also the author of the new best selling book, "Debt Free Living God's Way," available only on the Internet (www.debtfreelivinggodsway.org). Since 1987 Bob has helped people in hundreds of churches all across the country and in the European military community learn, understand, apply and pass on "Debt Free Living God's Way" principles and practical applications. He has represented some of the top Christian financial authors and ministries to include Larry Burkett, Dave Ramsey, Christian Financial Concepts, and Crown Ministries.
Copyright 2006 Christian Financial Ministries, Inc., All Rights Reserved. You may reprint this "Special Report" in whole or in part without permission from Christian Financial Ministries, Inc. Please credit material used to Christian Financial Ministries, Inc.
