HOW CAN YOU GIVE WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE: Does God expect us to give when we have so little? It is far more difficult to give when you don’t have it than when you have. Besides, what difference does it make if I give when the amount I am able to give is so little?

We are living in very challenging and stressful times in which possession, money, and wealth matter to all. However, if not careful, the pursuit of selfish desires will pull us away from what really matters, which is our relationship with God and one another. 

Satan uses the things of this world to tempt and lure us to him. However, the Word of God provides us with the guidance needed to avoid his trap.

In the Bible, God has provided us with practical guidance on how to live above the stresses of life, and we are given instructions on how to manage the resources He has given us.

In this series,

From a biblical perspective, we are looking at how to manage effectively the resources God has given us while prioritizing What Really Matters.

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Talking to the Father

Holy Father, we thank you for loving us and providing for us day by day. Help us show our love and appreciation by giving out of the abundance of our hearts.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen

When adopted into the family of God, we become his children. As his children, he expects us to manage his family business on earth. One way of honoring Our Heavenly Father is to bring an offering to Him. Returning tithes and offerings are as much a part of worship as preaching, singing, and praying.

The story in Mark 12:41–44 about the widow has important implications for those who have much wealth and those that have little wealth.

What are the implications?

41 Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much.

42 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.

43 So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury;

44 for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.” (Mark 12:41-44)

Jesus and his followers were in the temple courtyard, standing near where the treasury chest was located. While standing there, he observed those bringing their offerings. Jesus was standing close enough to the treasury chest to see that the widow had given two copper coins that really did not amount to much at all compared to the amounts that the very wealthy had given. Yet, she had put in all that she had.

Now, who gave the most? The very rich who gave out of their abundance, or the widow who gave all she had?

The implication in this story is motive. What is your motive for giving?

Here is what the Book Counsel on Stewardship says about motives for giving.

“But Jesus understood her motive. She believed the service of the temple to be of God’s appointment, and she was anxious to do her utmost to sustain it. She did what she could, and her act was to be a monument to her memory through all time, and her joy in eternity. Her heart went with her gift; its value was estimated, not by the worth of the coin, but by the love to God and the interest in His work that had prompted the deed.”—Ellen G. White, Counsels on Stewardship, p. 175.

Of all the gifts that were put into the temple treasury that day, the widow’s gift was the only offering that Jesus praised.

Interestingly, this widow gave all her money to a church, a group of people responsible for managing God’s business who were about to reject Jesus. Thus, the issue is not in the amount we give; it is in our motive for giving. 

Jesus also gave up everything He had for the church, consisting of people down through the ages who would reject him and fail to do the work God had called them to do.

Similar to the widow, Acts 10:1–4 tells of a Roman army leader, a Roman centurion, who got a visit from an angel from heaven. Different from the widow, the Roman centurion was quite wealthy. Yet, he did two things that God took note of.

Acts 10:1-4

1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment,

2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.

3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”

4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. (Acts 10:1-4)

 Cornelius was a generous giver. He gave much money to support God’s work. But, different from the others with great wealth, he gave out of his heart. 

The issue in giving is our heart. This is the point Jesus makes in Matthew 6:21

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

 Where we place our money, spend our time, and devote our effort is a sure sign of where our heart is.

 Cornelius’s heart followed his gifts. His heart was open to learning more about this man called Jesus.

Prayer and helping the poor is in harmony with the two great principles of God’s law: (1) love for God and (2) love others, as Jesus responded in Luke 10:27

27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ” (Luke 10:27).

Prayer: regularly talking to God shows our love for Him. And Giving offerings to help the poor shows our love for others.

We see here that it is not how much we do but our true motive in doing.

Thus He (Jesus) taught that the value of the gift is estimated not by the amount, but by the proportion that is given and the motive that actuates the giver.—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 342

From which jar do you give from? The big jar or the little jar? Find out more on Day 6: Special Projects: “Big Jar” Giving

If you want to return tithe and offering and do not have a church home, consider giving online,

@ Adventistgiving.org

 in the name of my local Church:

Hebron Seventh-day Adventist Church 7902 Wheatly Street  Houston, TX 77088

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