When we study giving in scripture, we quickly see that giving is more than dollars and cents. It is about a proper attitude and right relationship with God. Your attitude in giving can make a difference in how your giving impacts kingdom work and glorifies God.
A giving attitude means putting God first.
The first and foremost question in your life is what drives you? What is the basic commitment the carries you forward. Is it money and self-pleasure? Is your love for God and others what drives you?
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)
The reason that your giving is about more than dollars and cents is because the bigger issue is your heart in giving. How your heart is before God is about your giving attitude. To have the right attitude in giving we must first put God as our number one priority in our lives. Seeking first God and His will becomes the most important in thing of our lives.
And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. (2 Corinthians 8:5)
Paul spoke of the Macedonian Christians that when they gave they first gave themselves to the Lord, then they gave their offering. You must seek to first give yourself over to the Lord before you give.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)
This priority of making God first and giving God the first fruits and giving God your best is emphasized in the Old Testament before we see it here in the New Testament. The Old Testament system required the first fruits given, not the leftovers. The best was to be given to God.
Do not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him. (Deuteronomy 17:1)
The true attitude of Christian giving means not only making Christ first, but it translates into action of giving the first and the best of what we have to the Lord. The last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, is a heavy message to God’s people. They are robbing God. How are God’s people stealing from God? They are using lame and crippled animals for sacrifice.
The right attitude in your giving means you put God first in your life. It means giving the first and best of your finances. But, not just finances, your time and your talents. Your treasures, time and talent are just a way to say your whole life, your heart, mind and soul.
When your attitude is right you will desire to give your best in your life. You will want to give your first fruits to God. This right attitude is the same as abiding in Christ and walking in the fullness of the Spirit. Giving God your best is an expression that you are wholly his.
You were bought with a price. God did not spare his very best for you. He gave his only son. Only a right attitude with your life fully submitted to him constitutes a proper Christian giving. Anything less is unworthy of God.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)
A giving attitude means giving voluntarily.
The only gift that honors God is the one that comes freely from a willing loving heart. Jesus taught us that our giving transcends the legal obligation of the Hebrew religion. Our inward intention is crucial. It is as important as the outward act of giving.
Paul wanted the Corinthian collections to be regular and systematic so the gifts would not be grudgingly given.
So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given. (2 Corinthians 9:5)
Pressure giving campaigns are out of line. We don’t compel people to give that give voluntarily. Paul is looking for the financial gifts to be abundant, but he stresses that these gifts must be voluntary. They should never be given because pressure is applied.
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
If the Corinthians give under compulsion the whole purpose of their collection will be derailed. Paul underscores the voluntary nature of giving by saying “God loves a cheerful giver.” Why does God take such delight in a cheerful giver? After all God himself gives to us willingly, voluntarily and cheerfully.
Giving with a willing heart is pleasing in the sight of God. Your giving should come from your own free voluntary decision, not from manipulation. I worked for a company that emphasized a community giving campaign. There were some receivers of the gift that would not be in line with my convictions. The highest value for this company was to get a one-hundred percent compliance. There was pressure and their was guild laid on anyone who did not give and then break the full compliance goal of theirs. This was exactly the kind of giving Paul wanted to avoid. It is wrong to apply any strongarm tactics to giving to the Lord.
A giving attitude means giving sacrificially.
I think you know of examples where the rich gave enormous sums of money to a cause that would ultimately benefit them. In business there is a kind of giving that is called an enlightened self-interest giving. It is not at all sacrificial giving. Companies known for their green activities, diversity and charitable giving to improve their standing in the eyes of consumers. Other enlightened self-interest examples in business include donations which double as public relations.
It may seem ironic that a widow putting in two copper coins into a collection plate is a greater gift in the sight of Jesus. It makes sense when we consider our giving should be sacrificial.
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44)
Jesus makes some hard demands on his followers. The rich young ruler was turned away. Jesus turned away the rich man because he was not ready to give sacrificially of his riches, and his whole life. It seems extreme to us that Jesus was expecting sacrificial giving to follow him. It helps us understand why the widow’s mite was so pleasing to Jesus. It came from deep sacrifice.
Jesus viewed generosity not by the size of the gift, but by how much is left over. In other words, by the amount of sacrifice. The widow who gave only a fraction of a day’s wages gave the largest gift. It was more valuable in the sight of Jesus than the much larger gifts that came from the rich.
In the first century a widow had very few ways of earning money. The widows were the poorest of poor. To have a proper attitude in giving means to go beyond giving out of abundance. It means giving sacrificially. Every gift is to some extent sacrificial, but we need to examine to see if it is the kind of sacrifice Jesus spoke of.
A giving attitude means giving in love.
Our giving misses it’s purpose of there is not an attitude of love. We must be careful because there can be impressive giving that is void of love.
If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:3)
Now we really see how important it is to give with the right attitude. We could do what Jesus asked of the rich young ruler, but without love it is still not enough. Even sacrificial giving without love gains nothing.
This takes us full circle. How can I guarantee that my giving is in love? The answer is to put Christ first in your life. It is to make God the number one priority. To give willingly and sacrificially in love. All of our proper attitude in giving and in all our Christian life stem from a right relationship with God in Jesus Christ.
It all starts by giving your life to Christ that Jesus death on the cross pays the penalty for your sin. From that point of our new life in Christ we continue to walk by faith. Surrender your life to Christ to have the attitude that pleases God.
