Understanding giving… Why, when, how, where, to whom?

Welcome to church!

So my church pastor started a series on giving, and I’ve enjoyed it so much I’ll try my best to share it with you! Ready?

Giving and receiving are cardinal functions of life that cannot be broken or suspended without consequences. Life as we know it operates on the principle of giving and receiving.
Giving and receiving is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the church because people approach God like they approach gambling.

Why do we give?
1. We give because it is a law. Luke 6:38

Most times you don’t reap where you sow, you reap what you sow.

2. We give because we are in love with God.

3. We give because we are alive, to sustain life.

4. We give to honour God, and to honour man. Proverbs 3:9.

*The first fruit principle: By choice, not to be compelled. It is the first increase in anything we’re doing.

5. We give to be of help. Luke 10:33.

The reason why some people are hungry is because some others are greedy.

6. We give to worship God. Exodus 23:15

7. We give to stir the covenant we have with God.

8. We give to stop plagues, to destroy hardship. 2 Samuel 24:17-25

9. We give to provoke a blessing.

10. Giving moves God.

When do we give?
1. According to Ecclesiastes 11:6, we are to give every time.

2. We give in season and out of season.

3. We give when we have, and when we don’t have.

It is not what you give, but the heart behind the gift.

Where do we give?

1. Giving must begin at home.

2. On the street. Giving to people who are disadvantaged and cannot give back to you is one of the most fertile soils.

3. You give in church.

4. You give in the office.

How to give?

1. Give cheerfully. The attitude with which you give is just as important as the gift you give. 2 Cor 9:7

2. Give tearfully. Psalm 126:6

3. Give sacrificially, going beyond the call of duty in giving your seed. It is the giving that comes at a cost.

4. Give bountifully. 2 Cor 9:6 Bountifulness is not in the quantity but in the quality.

5. Give consistently.

6. Give systematically.

7. Give with expectation. “It is a sin to give without expectation” – Mike Murdock.

Who to give to?

1. To God

2. To your family

3. To the house of God

Matthew 5:23

Give to widows. Galatians 2:10

Give to strangers, Hebrews 13:2

*It is better to give to the poor, than to give to your pastor.”
Giving doesn’t have to be money. There are a lot of things we can give!

1. Money. 2. Time. 3. Talent. 4. Material things. 5. Good words. 6. Food, drinks, and water.

7. Shelter. 8. Good smiles!

Give someone a smile today!

THERE’S STILL A PLACE……

I was in church on Children’s Day, House On The Rock (HOTR), The Refuge, in Abuja, and immediately Pastor Obi Ekwueme said the words that are both the title and the concluding lines of this post, they hit me so hard I knew I had to write!

To start with, in the service yesterday, a man gave a testimony about the support he received from the church in his time of need. Apparently his wife had issues with her liver; he’s resident in Lagos while she lived in Abuja. He lost her to the illness (God rest her soul) but he came to thank the church for standing by him through that period, and for catering to all the hospital bills.

Brought tears to my eyes because dearly beloved, that’s what church is about; that’s what it is meant to be! Beyond the Word from the altar, the prayers, the miracles and deliverances, the church is supposed to be a brother/sister/mother/father to people. My dad says, “church members don’t care about the words you preach till they know how much you care”. Remember Jesus feeding the five thousand? Do you think He could not have just preached and let the people go home fed on the euphoria of the miracles He performed? We’ll tackle that in full another time…

Can I say the Tehilah Company (HOTR’s choir) is the best choir ever? And I’ve been in some really fabulous choirs in my life! Whoop whoop!!! I mean, everyone knows that HOTR invested madly in sound infrastructure/equipment but if the choir was crap, all the equipment in the world wouldn’t matter. Every time they minister, I feel truly blessed, as in truly blessed. Say a ‘thank you Jesus’ for the Tehilah Company for me will ya?

I would talk about the cuteness/handsomeness/top of the line presentation/appearance/swag (for lack of a better word) of their pastor but err, that would take up the rest of my word count for this post, and I need to get to the message already!

There’s still a place……….. Pastor Obi Ekwueme said that regardless of how dissatisfied with what we have/are now, we are not what where/what we used to be. So you were not always a university graduate, you were not always a secretary; you’ve not always been married, etc. Ladies and gentlemen, God has been good! You’ve made progress! Now we may not be where we want to be, but we’ve definitely left where we started the race from! Is that true for you? Have you lifted up your hands and said thank you Jesus yet?

Right. How do we get ‘there’? How do we improve on the gifts and skills we’ve got so they can take us ‘there’? By now we should all know that random complaints and murmuring will get us nowhere abi?

What’s the extra we’re doing/giving to be better at school/work/wherever we find ourselves? Are we the ones who watch the clock instead of doing any work, just idling about and waiting for the end of the month? Or worse still, are we in the class of extremely negative people, who blame everything and everyone else for their woes, and yet will pass up on opportunities to set things right? God forbid.

I’ve said it before… Twitter is slowly turning into CNN, the harbinger of evil news! How can there be so much negativity flying around so early in the day?

Take this around with you today!! Smile! Live! And have a super, extra productive day in Jesus name! Amen!

Words for the week. Aspire! Be ambitious! For God’s sake, let the work you put in be commensurate to your ‘dreams’! Why?

There’s a place; there’s still a place called ‘there’.

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