Our Weekly Devotionals

The Lies You Heard About Giving to God

 

You have heard it said: "The pastors steal our money to spend on their mansions and cars” or “churches collect money for the poor and then misuse it.” Because of this, you refuse to give to God’s work and so have missed the mark of Christ. Don’t be deceived by the enemy. Indeed, some ministers are unfaithful regarding money matters, and others manipulate believers to give money using a prosperity gospel message only to misuse the funds, but this is nothing new.

Judas, one of Jesus’s 12 disciples, was a known thief who often stole from their ministry fund. The man claimed money should be kept to be given to the poor, but instead, he stole it for himself (See John 12:6). Do you see the similarities with the wolves among the sheep?

Did Jesus stop his ministry or stop receiving from the faithful because of this man’s wickedness? No, he didn’t. Instead, at the right time, God passed judgment on Judas. Furthermore, the Lord Jesus showed that there will be weeds (the unfaithful) growing together with the wheat (the faithful) until the time of judgment when the Lord will separate them (See Matthew 13: 24-43).  

So for you, this means keep giving faithfully to church, other ministries, the poor, the orphans, the widows, the vulnerable, and the needy. The Lord who sees your heart will reward you in his kingdom, and at the same time, he will judge the unfaithful servants.  But what is the secret about giving? Why is it critical? Below are a few insights the Lord has taught me over the years to help you grasp this critical topic, which many have missed completely!

• It’s a command from the Lord Jesus himself. Giving is one of 3 key spiritual disciplines Jesus told his disciples to do, using “When” not “If”. He expected it to be part of “business as usual” for his followers when he addressed it (together with fasting and praying) as follows: “…When you give something to a needy person, do not make a big show of it, as the hypocrites do in the houses of worship and on the streets…” Matthew 6:2 (abridged).
• Giving takes away a curse from your household.  “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 (NIV).
• It frees your heart from the love of money. "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth…Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 1 Timothy 6: 17-18 (abridged).
  

May the master of the harvest free you from the enemy’s lie so you will walk in real Kingdom Prosperity – not the world’s false prosperity gospel.