MONEY-GIVING-PERSPECTIVE
I do not
think I exaggerate when I say that some of us put our offering in the plate
with a kind of triumphant bounce as much as to say: “There – now God will feel
better!” I am obliged to tell you that God does not need anything you have. He
does not need a dime of your money. It is your own spiritual welfare at stake
in such matters as these. You have the right to keep what you have all to
yourself – but it will rust and decay, and ultimately ruin you.
Christ the Eternal Son.
Our giving is
but a reflex of God’s giving.
Sam Storms
Copied
from: Pleasures Evermore: The Life-Changing Power of Knowing God by Sam Storms,
© 2000, p. 64. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.org. All rights reserved.
According to
2 Corinthians 8 and 9, truly biblical giving that pleases God is dependent on
His grace from start to finish. God’s grace:
1.
Enables
us to give generously.
2.
Causes
us to consider giving to be a privilege.
3.
Assists
us in viewing collections as gracious works.
4.
Inspires
us with Christ’s gracious example.
5.
Helps
us give by means of human leadership.
6.
Graciously
rewards us with an abundance of money to meet all of our personal needs and to
give to others.
Rod
Rogers
Copied from: Pastor Driven Stewardship: 10 Steps to
Lead Your Church to Biblical Giving by Rod Rogers, © 2006, p. 47. Used by
permission of Rod Rogers – www.DynamicGiving.com.
All rights reserved.
God doesn’t
want you to give out of a sense of pressure or guilt. God wants you to give
with eager joy. If there is joy in your heart when offering time comes, you
know God is pleased. Do you look forward to writing the offering check? Do you
feel like bursting with joy at offering time in your church? Do you get excited
when you receive unexpected money that you can give to God’s work? If so, you
have entered into the true spirit of giving.
Rod
Rogers
Copied from: Pastor Driven Stewardship: 10 Steps to
Lead Your Church to Biblical Giving by Rod Rogers, © 2006, p. 58. Used by
permission of Rod Rogers – www.DynamicGiving.com.
All rights reserved.
Stingy,
selfish people who don’t give to God and their church are often the most
unhappy, joyless people. You’ve seen a selfish child gripping a toy in both hands, refusing to share with her little brother,
crying and screaming, “Mine, mine, mine!” She’s definitely not a happy child.
Many Christian are holding their wallets in both hands and as they hear a
message on giving they begin screaming, “Mine, mine, mine!”
They are not happy people.
Rod
Rogers
Copied from: Pastor Driven Stewardship: 10 Steps to
Lead Your Church to Biblical Giving by Rod Rogers, © 2006, p. 71. Used by
permission of Rod Rogers – www.DynamicGiving.com.
All rights reserved.
The only
people who don’t like sermons on giving generously are people who don’t like to
give generously.
Rod
Rogers
Copied from: Pastor Driven Stewardship: 10 Steps to
Lead Your Church to Biblical Giving by Rod Rogers, © 2006, p. 72. Used by
permission of Rod Rogers – www.DynamicGiving.com.
All rights reserved.
The world has
a “go-getter” mind-set. The Christian has a “go-giver” mind-set. The world
says, “Give to get.” The Christian says, “Give to get to give.” The Christian
always stops with giving.
Rod
Rogers
Copied from: Pastor Driven Stewardship: 10 Steps to
Lead Your Church to Biblical Giving by Rod Rogers, © 2006, p. 87. Used by
permission of Rod Rogers – www.DynamicGiving.com.
All rights reserved.
When…people
begin to give generously, they will enter into intense spiritual warfare. Satan
knows how life transforming it is for believers to give obediently. He also
know how God uses the financial resources we give to further His work on Earth.
So, using fear and covetousness, our adversary fights ferociously to cripple
our giving. That is why, in the context of spiritual warfare and the armor of
God, we are commanded to pray for each other (Eph. 6:18).
Rod
Rogers
Copied from: Pastor Driven Stewardship: 10 Steps to
Lead Your Church to Biblical Giving by Rod Rogers, © 2006, p. 135-136. Used by
permission of Rod Rogers – www.DynamicGiving.com.
All rights reserved.
You will
always spend your money on what is most important to you… If your giving to the
church of Jesus Christ is poor, it is a clear sign that you’re not excited
about the things that God takes delight in. And, if you truly do take delight
in the growth and success of Christ’s church, put your money where your heart
is.
Rod
Rogers
Copied from: Pastor Driven Stewardship: 10 Steps to
Lead Your Church to Biblical Giving by Rod Rogers, © 2006, p. 205. Used by
permission of Rod Rogers – www.DynamicGiving.com.
All rights reserved.
He who gives
when he is asked has waited too long.
Author Unknown
A lot of
people are willing to give God the credit, but not too many are willing to give
Him the cash.
Author
Unknown
When it comes
to giving until it hurts, most people have a very low threshold of pain.
Author
Unknown
The moment someone begins to give for the
sake of receiving more back from the Lord, or he stops sowing bountifully in
order to increase his own possessions, the river of God’s bounty will no longer
continue to flow.
George
Muller
The Autobiography of George Muller, 1984, p.
196. All quotations taken from books published by Whitaker House are used with
permission of the publisher. Whitaker House books are available at Christian
bookstores everywhere.
The Christian should never worry about
tomorrow or give sparingly because of a possible future need. Only the present
moment is ours to serve the Lord, and tomorrow may never come. Money is really
worth no more than as it can be used to accomplish the Lord’s work. Life is
worth as much as it is spent for the Lord’s service.
George
Muller
The Autobiography of George Muller, 1984, p. 212.
All quotations taken from books published by Whitaker House are used with
permission of the publisher. Whitaker House books are available at Christian
bookstores everywhere.
Christian
giving is to be marked by self-sacrifice and self-forgetfulness, not by
self-congratulation.
John Stott
The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, IVP, 1978, p.
131.
What
we gave, we have; what we spent, we had; what we left, we lost.
Tryon
Edwards
There
are many hearing me who now know well that they are not Christians because they
do not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not grudging at all, requires
a new heart.
Robert Murray McCheyne