Teaching the poor to give

2 Corinthians chapter 8 and 9 are the longest passages on giving in the Bible and it starts by focusing on the Macedonians who lived in extreme poverty, yet who gave simply according to their means but they did give beyond their ability. 

God blesses giving and when we hang on to what is His, it's never in our best interest - the poor are not hurt by giving, they are helped by giving.

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. - Malachi 3:10

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.  Luke 6:38

If we do not teach people about giving, we deprive them of what God would have provided if they had learned to become givers.

Money: Litmus test of character

It's an index of our spiritual life.  Our stewardship of our money and possessions becomes the story of our lives. 

Because we all will eventually give an account of our lives to God, one day everyone must answer these questions -- Where did it all go?  What did I spend it on? What has been accomplished for eternity through my use of all this wealth?

In the account of the poor widow, Mark writes --

Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. - Mark 12:41

Jesus was deliberately watching to observe what people were giving.  He was close enough to see that some people put in large amounts and close enough even to see two tiny coins in a shrivelled old hand and to identify them as cooper.

Jesus was interested enough in what people were giving to make an object lesson for His disciples.

This passage should make all of us who suppose that what we do with our money is our own business feel terribly uncomfortable.  Perhaps you can hear Jesus using your handling of finances as an object lesson.






Money, Possessions and Eternity