Giving Part 1: Where to Start?

In light of our Gift Days coming up March 2 (this Sunday) and March 9, I felt stirred to do a "blogging series" on giving.

On the surface, giving away your money sounds ridiculous and absurd, especially a substantial amount like 10%. But what if it wasn't your money in the first place? What if instead of you giving away 10%, it was more about you holding on to 90% of what was given to you? Exodus 19:5 says that "The whole earth is mine (God's)." Job 41:11 says, "...Everything under heaven belongs to Me (God)." Even the ability to produce wealth comes from God (Deuteronomy 8:17-18).

This biggest reason why people struggle to give is because they think the money in their possession is theirs. They earned it, they deserve it. They think God is a taker. But the reality is God isn't a taker, but a giver. Without Him, we would have nothing. No money, no air to breath, no salvation, no joy...nothing. God is generous and wants us to be generous as well.

So where do you start? You start by understanding that you are a steward of God's possessions and not the owner of them. When you understand that, you will want to steward His resources according to His will. What's His will? That you would give regularly and generously and not under compulsion (feelings of guilt). See 2 Corinthians 9:6-8. How much? Pray about an amount that seems generous to you and continually pray that God would give you faith for more. You'll notice that as you do, joy in giving will increase and so will your faith to expand your giving.