Loving and Giving | Essential Christianity 201

Essential Christianity
Loving and Giving

Luke 10:25–28 (ESV) - Jesus was asked: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” His answer was simple but powerful: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind—and love your neighbor as yourself.”

1 Chronicles 29:11-12 (NLT) 11Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O LORD, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things.  12Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.

Loving God and loving others shapes our giving.

SOUL TATTOO: Being generous matters, because our hearts and our finances are closely connected.

Matthew 6:21 (NIV) 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

2 Chronicles 31:1-10 (NIV) When all this had ended, the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin and in Ephraim and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and to their own property. 2 Hezekiah assigned the priests and Levites to divisions—each of them according to their duties as priests or Levites—to offer burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, to minister, to give thanks and to sing praises at the gates of the Lord’s dwelling. 3 The king contributed from his own possessions for the morning and evening burnt offerings and for the burnt offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals as written in the Law of the Lord. 4 He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion due the priests and Levites so they could devote themselves to the Law of the Lord. 5 As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the firstfruits of their grain, new wine, olive oil and honey and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything. 6 The people of Israel and Judah who lived in the towns of Judah also brought a tithe of their herds and flocks and a tithe of the holy things dedicated to the Lord their God, and they piled them in heaps. 7 They began doing this in the third month and finished in the seventh month. 8 When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw the heaps, they praised the Lord and blessed his people Israel. 9 Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the heaps; 10 and Azariah the chief priest, from the family of Zadok, answered, “Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the Lord has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.”

SOUL TATTOO: Being generous matters, because our hearts and our finances are closely connected.

4 Points on Essential Generosity:

1) The tithe puts God first in my finances.

Proverbs 3:9 (ESV) 9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;

 “The tithe is so much more than an obligation; it’s an opportunity to honor God by giving Him first place in our lives.” Pastor John Siebeling

Loving God and others shapes our giving.

Tithes say: God, You’re first.
Offerings say: God, You’re worthy.
Alms say: You matter to God and to me.

Tithe Quote: 

“If the church in America would just tithe…not give one dollar over, we would have enough money in the church in America to feed and educate every human being on the planet and have between 60 and 70 billion dollars left over to advance the Gospel! God knew exactly what He was talking about! Let’s honor God first.”

The tithe is a priority, not a payment.

Tithing is an act of faith, a recognition of God’s provision and a way to support God’s work.

Tithing says, God, You’re first, not my wallet, not my wants.

2) Generosity advances God’s mission.

2 Corinthians 8:1–5 (NIV) 1And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.

Giving advances God’s mission, fuels ministry, outreach, and kingdom work.

Generosity turns personal revival into global impact.

SOUL TATTOO: Being generous matters, because our hearts and our finances are closely connected.

3) Stewardship builds eternal impact.

Matthew 6:19–21 (NIV) 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What you keep is temporary, but what you give becomes eternal.

Earthly banks can fail. Eternal giving never does.

4) Obedience unlocks God’s blessing.

Malachi 3:10 (ESV) 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

The tithe is the one place God says, “Test Me.”

God’s blessing follows our obedience.

Practical Challenge: 

Examine your heart and giving.
Ask God to show you how to honor Him first.
Live generously.
Trust God fully.

SOUL TATTOO: Being generous matters, because our hearts and our finances are closely connected.

Romans 10:8-10 (NLT) Salvation that comes from trusting Christ—which is the message we preach—is already within easy reach. In fact, the Scriptures say, “The message is close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. 

Romans 10:13 (NLT) For “Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”