Because God First Gave

[intro]For many, Thanksgiving marks the start of the Christmas season. That means, over the next month, you’re going to hear about generosity a lot. You’ll hear it in the song “Christmas Shoes,” and see it illustrated in your favorite version of “A Christmas Carol.” Outside Meijer, Salvation Army workers will encourage you to give your spare change to the poor.[/intro]

All of these are well and good, of course. Christmas puts people in the mood to give, and it’s good to remember the poor in wintertime, especially in a bitterly cold state like Michigan.

As Christ-followers, though, generosity ought to be more than an annual charity donation, or even a weekly tithe, if you want to donate then consider going to Tithe.ly. Rather, generosity is a spiritual discipline and an act of worship.

We give because God first gave to us.

Nowhere is God’s generosity more evident than in Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection. God could have left us to die in our sins, but instead, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). By being generous with others and giving sacrificially, we reflect Jesus’ great sacrifice on the cross. This is something the early church got really well. Many early believers, such as Barnabas, sold their property and distributed it among their fellow Christ-followers. (Read all about it in Acts 4.)

We give because we were made in God’s image, and God was a giver.

In Genesis 1:27, we learn that God made us in His own image. This means that giving is in our DNA. As Jamie Munson explains in Money: God or Gift, “As God’s image-bearers we bear His imprint, which includes an inherent sense that generosity is good. Those who love Jesus reflect God’s character all the more because they live to obey Him and emulate His example of generosity.”

We give as a step of faith.

One of the things Christ often asks His followers to do is to give as a sign that they trust Him to provide. In 1 Kings 17, the prophet Elijah has called down a drought on Israel. Elijah then meets a widow woman with only enough oil and flour for one more meal, but when he asks her to bake a loaf of bread for him, she obeys.

As Chris Willard and Jim Sheppard explain in Contagious Generosity,

“In faith, the widow obeys the word of the prophet and finds that she does indeed have enough flour and oil to feed them all. Not only that, but both her flour jar and her oil jug remain full until the rains return and the drought ends. She and her son are kept alive, demonstrating the abundant life that God is ready to give us when we choose to step out in faith and share what He has given to us.”

We probably won’t be asked to share our last meal with a prophet. But all of us will be called to give sacrificially of our time, talents, and treasures. That may mean trusting that God will provide for our own needs.

We give to invest in a permanent treasure.

In Matthew 6:19-20, Jesus tells His followers not to store up treasures on Earth, but rather to store up treasures in Heaven, “where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” By giving our money and time to spread the Gospel locally and globally, we are trading in earthly treasures for heavenly ones.

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. In verse 21, He says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Have you felt disconnected from the church? Has your walk with Jesus been suffering? How has your giving been? When you give your treasures over to God, your heart will follow.

Photo credit: Georgia National Guard