Faithful Giving, It's Not Just About Money

"Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”" Mark 12:42-44

""Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob Me. "But you ask, 'How are we robbing you?' "In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse - your whole nation - because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."" Malachi 3:8-10

Talking about money in church these days feels pretty taboo. I remember growing up there was a giving Sunday. A member of the congregation came up and gave a talk about the importance of tithing. He quoted Malachi 3:10, emphasizing that this is the only time the Bible gives us permission to test Him. To my knowledge that it true - in fact, pretty much any other time testing comes up between us and God we are cautioned not to test the Lord our God. 

I'll come back to Malachi, but let's take a look at some of Jesus's words on giving first...

Jesus talks about money with His disciples in Mark Chapter twelve. This seems like it was a teaching moment that presented itself, and of course He doesn't pass up the opportunity to pass wisdom to His disciples. This gentle way of making a lesson out of observing a simple, humble act of dropping what equated to a few coins into the treasury...it reminds me of how a parent can use simple acts they witness together with their children as a way to help guide them gently on the right path. 

Simple, yet powerful. Many are seen putting in "much." However, in verse forty-one those individuals are described as rich. Jesus tells the disciples that they have given out of their excess. Then this poor widow throws in her tiny sum. Jesus tells His disciples (and us) that she has "put in all she had." What faith this woman must have had! This short section of Mark Chapter twelve (verses 41-44) shows us that our offerings to God are about faith. 

Coming back to Malachi... 

I have been making an attempt to not pick and choose individual verses, without pulling some context. In the preceding verses in Malachi, God is telling His people that they have been robbing Him. The first five Books of the Bible have a lot rules about how God's people were to live, and giving God a tithe was mentioned in many passages. (Gen. 14:20, Gen. 28:20-22, Ex. 23:19, Ex. 34:26, Ex. 35:5, Lev. 27:30, Num. 18:26, Deut. 14:22-23, 28, Deut. 26:12 just to name a few.) So, it can be deduced that by the time we get to the Book of Malachi the Israelites had fallen off their tithing. 

God is pretty firm with them in verses eight and nine. Can you imagine God speaking to you through His prophet, and He's calling you a robber? I am thinking that I would be sitting up and paying attention! Yet our merciful, loving Father is full of grace in verse ten. This blows my mind. And yet, this is just like our God, isn't it? He doesn't just say, "Do what you're supposed to do." No God tells the Israelites to go ahead and test Him on this, and says he's going to "open the floodgates of heaven," and bless them, bless us, more than there's even room to contain. That really paints a vivid picture!

Let me try to pull these OT and NT sections together...

God does not need our money. He is the Creator of the world. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING is His. If He needs something, He's going to just take it. However, our loving Father is constantly providing us ways to grow our faith. He knows that some of us may feel our livelihood is solely ours. Others of us may feel that we have to work for our livelihood so that we can pay for our needs. 

There are many misguided views we have of money...many of them put an unintended barrier between us and God. God knows this, He knows that we need to give to Him for our benefit, not His. However, we will not achieve the intended result of tithing, or any giving, unless we do it with our hearts. God does not want your money because you feel obligated. He doesn't want your time or talents that way either. (A lesson that I have learned is one of the obstacles that kept me from consistent writing off and on for years.) 

II Corinthians Chapter nine, verse seven (b) tells us that "God loves a cheerful giver." This is because when we give with our heart, when our motives are out of selflessness or faith, then we are going to reap even more than we are sowing. We will reap rewards of a deeper, more meaningful walk with God. We will reap rewards of seeing what God can do with our tithes that is way beyond we ever could have done. 

God promised in Malachi to open heaven's floodgates, pouring out overly abundant blessings. Do not get caught up on specificity here. It is likely that when we faithfully tithe, if we test Him according to His words in Malachi, that He will increase our finances. However, God can abundantly bless us in countless ways. Be open to an increase in whatever area God chooses to bless you. Oh, and don't forget...His timing is different than ours. He will bless you in His time. So, be patient. This is a faith journey.

Note: I am not writing this today as a means of telling you what you have to do. I am providing you with some research that I have done, and encouraging you to begin your own faith walk on giving - if you aren't already. Take time in prayer and in God's Word. If you are already tithing, or maybe giving beyond ten percent, perhaps God wanted you to read this today to make sure that you periodically reflect on the why behind your giving.