1 Chronicles 29:14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You.
Psalms 115:1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
1 Chronicles 29:9 Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD.
Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
2 Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God
When great resources were needed to build the temple, King David set the example by giving of his personal wealth, followed by all the leaders of Israel. David explained why: “The work is great because the temple is not for man but for the Lord God”. He then said to God that they could only give because He had first given to them. That is the premise that underlies all giving and service in God’s Kingdom. We give and serve because He has first given to us and served us. As the apostle, John later wrote, “We love Him because He first loved us”. Whatever God has given us in terms of time, talent, or treasure, we owe it all to Him. From the breath of our life to the work of our hands, we give it to glorify the One who first gave to us.
Sometimes I think we give thinking what we have is totally ours, our own, our stuff, mine, mine alone, and I can do with it what I please, when I please, wherever I please. When this happens is there any glory and honor for Jesus Christ? When we think like this our ears become deaf to the leading and direction of the Holy Spirit. We become a person who gives out of our wealth and not out of reverence to Jesus Christ. We must recognize that all we have and all the talents we have, have been given to us. It is in this recognition that we understand that we are no more than entrusted individuals with what God has graciously given to us. Learn this well. Understand it well. Only then will “giving” be a joy and not the burden.
