Scripture

Let giving flow from your heart, not from a sense of religious duty. Let it spring up freely from the joy of giving.

~2 Corinthians 9:7, TPT

Quote

There ought to be things we should like to do, and cannot do because our gifts to the Kingdom work exclude them.

~Lewis and Bailey

There are different levels in Christian stewardship. The lowest degree is to give begrudgingly. You give but not because you love giving, but because you feel obligated. I don’t really want to give, but if I don’t give something, it is going to make me look bad. The second degree is to give occasionally. Every now and then, when the mood or need strikes you. The third degree is to give sparingly. You give as little as possible. Then there are those who give systematically. Giving is a habit and they give on a regular basis. The next degree upward is the cheerful giver. The Greek word for cheerful is hilaros. This is when you enjoy giving. It gives you a kick. A little higher is the bountiful giver. Those who had rather give too much as too little. Even higher are the sacrificial givers. They give more than they can afford. They do without things in order to give. They give out of poverty like the Macedonian Churches. Then there are the spiritual givers. They pray and give as the Holy Spirit leads. You are probably thinking: “You can’t get any higher.” But there is a higher level: The highest level of giving gracious giving, following the example of Christ.{2 Corinthians 8:9] Jesus was not a tither; He gave it all. That is the highest degree, giving everything you have including your life.

Second Corinthians chapters eight and nine are Paul’s pleading with the Church in Corinth to give to the poor Jews in Jerusalem. Yes, there are poor Jews: not all Jews are rich or even well off. The Corinthian church was affluent; they had money but they were poor givers. They never gave Paul a dime, but he is not asking them to help himself, he is challenging them to give to the Jerusalem fund. In contrast, Macedonians churches were poor, especially Philippi, yet they gave more than they could afford. Let me share something that will amaze some: the poor churches gave more than the affluent churches. We have all seen itinerate preachers kiss up to big money but if you talk to folks like the Grahams, you will learn that the majority of their support comes from people who are not wealthy. This does not mean that rich people do not give. What it does mean is that it is uncharacteristic for the rich to give, but there are exceptions, PTL. Most folks do not believe the basic rule of Christian stewardship–THE MORE YOU GIVE THE MORE YOU GET {Luke 6:38}. It is like a farmer sowing his seed. If he is stingy with his seed, he will reap a poorer harvest. But we have to be careful, giving may not make you rich, it could possible make you poor. How much did the widow have left after she gave her two mites? She had nothing. What did she do for lunch? I do not know. The one thing I know is that you must love Jesus to the degree that you would give Him your last cent. If God made every tither a millionaire, we would have people giving for the wrong reason. We don’t give to get, we give to get to give again. Greed is a hindrance to God’s economy. The emphasis has to be on giving, not recieving.

One other thing: most poor people {like me} don’t realize how blessed they are to be poor {lower middle income, not really poverty]. The more money God blesses you with the greater your responsible as a steward or manager of His wealth. When you have a brand new vehicle with not a scatch and the inside still has the new car smell, you cringe at the thought of someone asking to borrow it–don’t you? But when it is old and beat up you don’t care. My truck as dents on both sides and the tailgate. How are you going to mess it up? I spend no time worrying about someone wanting to borrow my stuff. There is more freedom in being poor. We don’t have to deal with the anxiety of managing great wealth, keeping it or making sure it does not corrupt the ones we leave it to.

Extra

Understand my definition of poverty. In Guatemala or third world countries, I would be considered rich and I am in so many ways. Here in America, I am not considered rich. I am not really poor but I’m a long way from being rich. I do believe that if God wanted me to be rich, I would be rich. Wealth is not a goal and one of my greatest joys is to be able to give. We can’t give as much as the wealthy can give but we enjoy giving just as much.

No wind early so it didn’t seem that cold to me. Big Mama has the chicken stew on the stove. Am I blessed or what!

I hope you have a great day. Thank for reading the blog.

Please pray for my friend Courtney who is battling ALS. We had the sweetest visit with her yesterday. Something I will cherish as long as I have memory which may not be that long. Delois Sanford {Charles wife} is have hip surgery today at Decatur/Morgan. Pray for Charles and Delois. They now reside at Riverside, the best retirement home in the area. Delois fell on Tuesday and broke her hip. Ken Nelson has a radical surgery next Monday, April 8. His spirits are high. It said, “It is a win/win. I either get better or get promoted.” Ken is a refreshing spirit, and yes, he still sings by letter–He opens up and let’s her fly.