Spirit & Truth # 262
“Harvest of Righteousness”
By Greg Smith
Each Sunday when the offering plate
goes around, every believer has an opportunity to give. There are many reasons for putting an
offering in the plate. Some donate
because they feel that people are watching them, and their reputation is on the
line. Others give because they can get a
tax write-off. Still others give out of
gratitude for what God has done for them, and a desire to see God’s work done
locally and around the world.
Many churches teach tithing, or
giving 10% of one’s income to God.
Theologian and author C.S. Lewis says, “I do not believe one can settle
how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than
we can spare.” Yet Brian Kluth, author
of A View from the Pew: Financial Statistics of 750 Christian Households on
Income, Job, Debt, and Giving/Tithing[i], writes, “While
most people only give 1-3% of their income to charitable/church/religious
causes, survey responders indicated their household made it a priority to be
faithful and generous givers.” I find it
interesting that people say that giving is important to them, and that they
want to be generous, while not even coming close to the Biblical tithe.
God
wants us to be generous givers, but He also wants us to be cheerful givers. Many find it difficult to do both at the same
time. That’s because oftentimes people
are afraid that if they give now, they won’t have what they need later. But the apostle Paul reminds us in 2
Corinthians 9:10-11 (HCSB), “The One who provides seed for the sower and bread
for food will provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your
righteousness. You will be enriched in
every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us.”
Jesus
taught us to pray, “Give us today our daily bread (Matthew 6:11),” but Paul
goes a step further, saying that God provides not only the bread for food, but
He also provides the seed necessary to grow the wheat that produces more
bread! In other words, God provides for
today and for tomorrow. He says that
when you give, God will repay you—not because tithing is a “get rich quick
scheme,” but so that you will be able to give even more!
If God generously gave
His Son as a sacrifice for us, what can we give to Him to show our
gratitude? Many have said that they
can’t afford to give, but I have personally found that I can’t afford not to
give to God’s work. Instead, I have been
greatly repaid in every way. Industrialist
and philanthropist J.D. Rockefeller said, "I never would have been able to
tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary,
which was $1.50 per week."[ii] So you can start small, and let God grow your
giving. Today, I invite you to give to
your local church and to other godly endeavors as well. You never lose out for having done so. Instead, you gain a harvest of
righteousness.
No comments:
Post a Comment