Righteous Act #1 -- Giving (Devotional Day 25)
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:2-4)
Jesus’ teaching on righteous living begins with righteous giving. It is a good place to start, after all, as a famous preacher once said, “Show me a man’s checkbook and I’ll show you his priorities.” It doesn’t take long in today’s world to see where your money goes – just go on the internet and pull up your bank statements and credit card statements and you will quickly see what you spent it on or to whom you gave it. Unless, of course, you give away a lot of cash, which you can likely tally up in your head.
What did this little exercise tell you? A little later in our study on the Sermon on the Mount we will get to the place where Jesus says we can’t serve both God and money. For now, though, just honestly ask yourself, do I give to the poor? Do I support my local church and worthwhile ministries in my community and around the world? Am I being a good steward of the money God has given me?
It is interesting that Jesus just assumes that his followers will be regular givers. He doesn’t make a big deal about it or command it; he just assumes it when he says, “When you give to the needy…” rather than “If you give to the needy…” It is kind of a big assumption if you think about it. Jesus is assuming both that his followers will have enough money so that they can give and that they will have a heart that is willing to give. It shows a lot of faith – faith in the Father to provide and faith in believers to give.
It does take a lot of faith to give, if you think about it. Probably one of the main reasons we don’t give is lack of faith. We are afraid that if we give money away then we won’t have enough of it for ourselves and we will wind up lacking or even destitute. We don’t believe that our heavenly Father will take care of us, even though He has promised that He would.
Another way that lack of faith keeps us from giving is that we want to stand in as judge and jury on the lives of the people that are needy. If past sins have put them in a hard place or current bad habits cause them to spend the money foolishly, we take it as a license not to give. And if an organization fails to be wise or uses money in a way that we deem inappropriate, we use that as an excuse to not give to them or, in some cases, to anyone at all. We let other people’s failures and our lack of faith in God rob us of the joy of giving.
After all, one of the great joy-givers in life is to give. As Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” For when we give we are following in His footsteps and giving ourselves away for the sake of others. God sees it and rewards us with great joy and intimacy with Him; the people to whom we give are blessed both materially and spiritually as we show them God’s love. It is a win-win situation. But there is one caveat, one thing that must be avoided as it can ruin everything.
That one thing is prideful play-acting. Being a hypocrite, someone who acts one way but deep inside is something else entirely. Giving money away so that you can get the attention of man gets in the way of what God really wants to do in the lives of the giver and the receiver. It all becomes a show, with trumpets blowing in Jesus’ day and with the media attention or name on a plaque or whatever it might be in our modern day.
So do your giving in secret, Jesus says, so that no one knows except you. Sure, there might be others who find out, like the one to whom you are giving or your spouse or family members or close friends. But there won’t be the fanfare, the hand-shaking and back-slapping, the prideful exaltation that comes as others congratulate you and tell you how great you are. If the fanfare is what you are after, then you have received your reward, the very thing that you were after.
But if you are giving to please God and to demonstrate His love to others, then He will see and He will reward you. To Him, the way that we give and our heart attitude as we give is more important than the amount that we give. So give freely and secretly, knowing that God will provide for your every need and His reward will be far better than anything the world has to offer.
Pray with me: Lord, help me to be like you when it comes to righteous giving. Give me faith to not hold back but to trust you and give generously in every occasion. Help me to give myself away, just as you did. Forgive me for those times when I should have given but I didn’t. Forgive me for those times when I gave just so I would look good in the eyes of others. And Lord, bless these people who I know have needs and give me opportunities to give to them…continue praying as you are led…
Action Point: Consider writing a check to your local church, sponsoring a needy child in a Third World Country through Compassion International, or supporting your local homeless shelter (click here to find a shelter near you).
Meditate on these Scriptures:
Acts 20:35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
Matt 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Matt 6:25, 33 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? … But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
For further study: Click on the links below to find more resources.
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:2-4)
Jesus’ teaching on righteous living begins with righteous giving. It is a good place to start, after all, as a famous preacher once said, “Show me a man’s checkbook and I’ll show you his priorities.” It doesn’t take long in today’s world to see where your money goes – just go on the internet and pull up your bank statements and credit card statements and you will quickly see what you spent it on or to whom you gave it. Unless, of course, you give away a lot of cash, which you can likely tally up in your head.
What did this little exercise tell you? A little later in our study on the Sermon on the Mount we will get to the place where Jesus says we can’t serve both God and money. For now, though, just honestly ask yourself, do I give to the poor? Do I support my local church and worthwhile ministries in my community and around the world? Am I being a good steward of the money God has given me?
It is interesting that Jesus just assumes that his followers will be regular givers. He doesn’t make a big deal about it or command it; he just assumes it when he says, “When you give to the needy…” rather than “If you give to the needy…” It is kind of a big assumption if you think about it. Jesus is assuming both that his followers will have enough money so that they can give and that they will have a heart that is willing to give. It shows a lot of faith – faith in the Father to provide and faith in believers to give.
It does take a lot of faith to give, if you think about it. Probably one of the main reasons we don’t give is lack of faith. We are afraid that if we give money away then we won’t have enough of it for ourselves and we will wind up lacking or even destitute. We don’t believe that our heavenly Father will take care of us, even though He has promised that He would.
Another way that lack of faith keeps us from giving is that we want to stand in as judge and jury on the lives of the people that are needy. If past sins have put them in a hard place or current bad habits cause them to spend the money foolishly, we take it as a license not to give. And if an organization fails to be wise or uses money in a way that we deem inappropriate, we use that as an excuse to not give to them or, in some cases, to anyone at all. We let other people’s failures and our lack of faith in God rob us of the joy of giving.
After all, one of the great joy-givers in life is to give. As Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” For when we give we are following in His footsteps and giving ourselves away for the sake of others. God sees it and rewards us with great joy and intimacy with Him; the people to whom we give are blessed both materially and spiritually as we show them God’s love. It is a win-win situation. But there is one caveat, one thing that must be avoided as it can ruin everything.
That one thing is prideful play-acting. Being a hypocrite, someone who acts one way but deep inside is something else entirely. Giving money away so that you can get the attention of man gets in the way of what God really wants to do in the lives of the giver and the receiver. It all becomes a show, with trumpets blowing in Jesus’ day and with the media attention or name on a plaque or whatever it might be in our modern day.
So do your giving in secret, Jesus says, so that no one knows except you. Sure, there might be others who find out, like the one to whom you are giving or your spouse or family members or close friends. But there won’t be the fanfare, the hand-shaking and back-slapping, the prideful exaltation that comes as others congratulate you and tell you how great you are. If the fanfare is what you are after, then you have received your reward, the very thing that you were after.
But if you are giving to please God and to demonstrate His love to others, then He will see and He will reward you. To Him, the way that we give and our heart attitude as we give is more important than the amount that we give. So give freely and secretly, knowing that God will provide for your every need and His reward will be far better than anything the world has to offer.
Pray with me: Lord, help me to be like you when it comes to righteous giving. Give me faith to not hold back but to trust you and give generously in every occasion. Help me to give myself away, just as you did. Forgive me for those times when I should have given but I didn’t. Forgive me for those times when I gave just so I would look good in the eyes of others. And Lord, bless these people who I know have needs and give me opportunities to give to them…continue praying as you are led…
Action Point: Consider writing a check to your local church, sponsoring a needy child in a Third World Country through Compassion International, or supporting your local homeless shelter (click here to find a shelter near you).
Meditate on these Scriptures:
Acts 20:35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
Matt 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Matt 6:25, 33 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? … But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
For further study: Click on the links below to find more resources.
To be a part of the conversation about the article above, or even if you just want to read what everyone else is saying about it, go to the Righteous Act #1 -- Giving Comments Page.
To be a part of the conversation about the article above, or even if you just want to read what everyone else is saying about it, go to the Keeping Your Word Pure Comments Page.
To leave your comments, helpful hints, and suggestions about this website overall, use the Comments section of Pastor Randy's blog.
To leave your comments, helpful hints, and suggestions about this website overall, use the Comments section of Pastor Randy's blog.
This article is Day 25 of the 40 Day Devotional; the next devotional is Day 26.
Please use this website for personal devotional use and feel free to share it with friends and family. However, all publishing rights are reserved. No reproduction or publication of this blog is permitted without the permission of the author, Pastor Randy Brockett. To contact Pastor Randy, email him at [email protected].
To be a part of the conversation about the article above, or even if you just want to read what everyone else is saying about it, go to the Keeping Your Word Pure Comments Page.
To leave your comments, helpful hints, and suggestions about this website overall, use the Comments section of Pastor Randy's blog.
To leave your comments, helpful hints, and suggestions about this website overall, use the Comments section of Pastor Randy's blog.
This article is Day 25 of the 40 Day Devotional; the next devotional is Day 26.
Please use this website for personal devotional use and feel free to share it with friends and family. However, all publishing rights are reserved. No reproduction or publication of this blog is permitted without the permission of the author, Pastor Randy Brockett. To contact Pastor Randy, email him at [email protected].