One of the great things about not being paid for ministry is that I have free reign to talk about money.  It’s amazing, few subjects compare to money at potential iliiciting a negative response, even from Christians.  You can talk about pride all day long, a lack of patience, lack of spiritual disciplines, but once you start talking to a Christian about his/her money, watch out!

Here’s the problem.  It’s not your money.  Most Christians pay lip service to that idea, but it hasn’t taken root in their lives.  When you claim that you have worked hard for your money (I hope you have), ask yourself a few questions.  Who gave you your brain?  You may have studied hard, but who gave you the ability to learn?  Who gave you your hands?  Your eyes.  Who surrounded you with opportunities so that your gifts could be put to use?

Looked at another way, if the Earth and all that it contains was created by God, how are you going to claim “ownership” of it?  Did you make the Earth?  Where were you when God molded it with His hands that you now want to lay claim to a piece of it?  God never made us owners, we are stewards.  This is the tragedy behind legalistic tithing.  People believe they’re buying off God with 10% of their money so they can be greedy and selfish with the other 90%.  That was never God’s intention.  How do you treat your money?  Do you treat it as if you own it, or how would you say you are stewarding your resources for the glory of God?

What I want to help you move beyond is seeing giving monetarily as something that is merely an act of obedience.  If you cannot give your money away joyfully, ask yourself whether your heart truly desires God.  God has given you money, not so that it would terminate on yourself, but that you have an opportunity in giving it away to reveal the worth of the glory of God, and take part in the Kingdom of Heaven.  When you give it away, be encouraged; the inheritance you’re receiving is the glory of God, which will be revealed to you when you see God fully in Heaven.

Matthew 6:24 – “No one can serve two masters, for 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 God and money.”

My exhortation is to not let your pleasures be simple and small.  Do not be satisfied merely with what you can see in front of you, but seek the higher things of God.  Set your mind on growing your affections for the glory of God through giving, and at the close of your life you will not look back at rusted, deteriorated things with regret, but your eyes will be as they always have been; looking forward to the infinite glory of God.

Grace and Peace,
Adam