Our 3rd Gift To Manage: Wealth -- Part 3

This is the third and last way I'm going to show us how to manage our money the right way today.

This last way is the THE major way to PROTECT and INSULATE yourself from the danger of wealth/money...

The third way to manage your money is to Give It Away/Share it!

Giving money keeps God “god” and keeps money from becoming your “god”!

John Piper in his book “What Jesus Demands From The World” says it like this…

“So the reason money is so crucial for Jesus is that across all cultures and all ages it represents the alternative to God as the treasure of our hearts, and therefore the object of our worship. It becomes the great threat to our obedience to the first and last of the Ten Commandments: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exod. 20:3), and “You shall not covet” (Exod. 20:17). Money represents all the other material things and securities and pleasures that it can buy. Therefore, it represents the great alternative to God in our hearts. This is why what we do with our money is so crucial to Jesus.”

I want to give you some tips about giving today from what the Apostle Paul gives us in 2 Corinthians 9:6-14…

6Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully. 8And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 9As the Scriptures say, "Godly people give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will never be forgotten." F29

10For God is the one who gives seed to the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will give you many opportunities to do good, and he will produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

11Yes, you will be enriched so that you can give even more generously. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will break out in thanksgiving to God. 12So two good things will happen—the needs of the Christians in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanksgiving to God. 13You will be glorifying God through your generous gifts. For your generosity to them will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. 14And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the wonderful grace of God shown through you.

Let's look at some of these tips:

Giving is always to God, not a church or pastor.
V.13-14 13 says You will be glorifying God through your generous gifts. For your generosity to them will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. "

Giving is a form of worship. It’s form of thanksgiving, a form of obedience.

You’re giving it to GOD to be used by a church or ministry. You’re NOT just giving to them.

There are two main areas the God says we should focus our giving on: poor/needy and ministry.

Give to as many ministries as you can, but you should first make sure give to God by giving to the local body of believers you are a part of!

Why?

That’s where God has planted you. It’s where you’re being fed spiritually. It will bless the church you are a part of, so it blesses the people you know. It helps your church to be able minister more effectively to the area where God’s put you!

The next giving tip is...

Giving should be planned.
V. 7 says, "You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give…”

Gene Getz said…

"When money is available because we've planned our giving, it becomes a joyful experience to share it with others. We've not only prepared our hearts for that moment, but we've prepared our hearts in a broader way ahead of time, because we've arranged our giving together with our overall financial plans. In other words, we've prepared a budget.

"Conversely, when we don't plan our giving, we usually don't have money to give. Many of us tend to allow our standard of living to rise to our present level of income. Then, when we're asked to give (either regularly to meet the ongoing needs of the ministry or through special gifts for special needs), we respond reluctantly. This is understandable, since we've already spent our excess funds on our own needs and desires or laid aside that excess for our future benefit.

"Under such circumstances, negative emotions are predictable. Often we not only have no excess to give to God's work, but we're worried that we won't even have enough money to meet what we believe are our own needs. Yet, as with the Corinthians, this problem often is not God's but ours – the result of not becoming systematic planners and givers."

That's why w should plan our giving ahead of time!

How much will you give to God to be used for your church this month? How much will you give to Missions (reaching people here and in other countries)?

Most of us don’t carry cash, so we won’t have anything to give if we don’t plan it out!

The next tip is...

Give with happiness.
Paul says in V. 7 “Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully."

Don’t give cause you have to. Give because you want to! God doesn’t want your offering if you don’t want to give it!

The next tip...

Give a Tithe.
“Tithe” means 10%. In the Old Testament under the old covenant it was required. But the New Testament doesn’t mention it, so some people think it doesn’t apply anymore. (The funny thing is that the N.T. shows examples of some who gave way more than 10%, but that’s another story!)

I give my tithe NOT because I have to but because I want to! I give my tithe out of FAITH because I believe God’s given me all I have! I give it out of WORSHIP and THANKSGIVING for what he’s given me!

I do it to remind myself and show God I believe he’s going to KEEP providing for me!

This is one of the few areas where God tells us to test him!

Malachi 3:10-12 says "10Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the LORD Almighty, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you! 11Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. F6 Your grapes will not shrivel before they are ripe," says the LORD Almighty. 12"Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight," says the LORD Almighty.

If you think about it the tithing is an amazing offer.

God’s saying, "I’ll give you everything, just give me back 10%." If you do, I’ll bless you even MORE!!!

It’s a SMART plan for God to create. It keeps us remembering that He’s our source. It keeps you relying on Him while at the same time it provides for the needs of the local church you’re a part of (v.10 "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple.)

Paula Davis told her story about her business making baby carriers that she started just awhile ago. She said that her sales started to dry up and she couldn't figure out why.

She realized she hadn't been tithing what she was making, so she tithed that Sunday.

That day she got 3 orders!

The sales stopped again and she tithed again and got a sale that day!

Tithing doesn't always work that fast or isn't always connected to seeing a direct blessing of money back.

Don't do it to get something back. Do it, because it's your worship, thanksgiving and faith in God for ALL he's done for you.

I have always tithed since I was a teenager. I don’t even think about it anymore. It's something on auto-pilot. I usually pay it first. It’s a habit.

If you haven’t been doing this, you might not even have the full 10% to give to God – even IF you wanted to!

If you don’t have it, but want to, then here’s my advice…

Start with what you can - maybe 5% or whatever - and make it your goal to work up to 10%.

REMEMBER:
Don’t do it to just to get back, but watch how God keeps his promise and blesses you!

You want to know something else?

This idea of tithing is talked about in a lot of secular success books as the KEY to gaining wealth! (I showed a stack of 4 books I brought.) They call it something like "a universal law of nature" or something like that!

That proves to me it’s a principle that works! Try it and see!

Here's the last tip on giving...

God will bless you when you give!
You’ll be rewarded now and in the next life. This is the way to store up treasures in heaven! Think of it as building up your Spiritual Assets column!

Jesus said it like this in Luke 6:37-38...
“Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down and overflowing… With the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

This is another thing I say a lot because I want it to lock in your and my minds…

God is looking for givers to give to! He’s looking for people to bless who will share the blessing with others and give it to be used to see God’s work that needs to be done here and around the world.

W. Graham Scroggie says something that I think we really need to think about…

“There are two ways in which a Christian may view his money--'How much of my money shall I use for God?' or 'How much of God's money shall I use for myself?'"

Money/wealth is a powerful gift.

You can use this power for good or evil. You can use it to hurt or heal. You can use it to help yourself or others.

If you have enough of it you can do amazing things that can have eternal results!

Managing your money in ways to please God is done by managing our money in the rights ways we looked at today: not wasting it, growing it and giving it!

How can you keep from loving money is by holding it loosely. Be generous to God and others. Don’t look to it for security, but only to God the provider!

When you do you’re money will grow and bless you and others in ways you wouldn’t believe!