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What Does Your Giving Reveal?

pearl of wisdom proverbs Jul 03, 2019
  

PEARL OF WISDOM:

“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”

PROVERBS 3:9-10

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The Bible counsels us repeatedly to give. But why?

It's absolutely true that God is able to do amazing things to further Kingdom work through the generosity of the faithful. So there are external realities coming to life through giving. But what about internal ones? As women called to business, it is important to understand Kingdom economics. And it is even more important to understand our own relationship to money: what it means to us – to earn it and to give it away.

Proverbs 3: 9-10 counsels us to bring the firstfruits to God. This is a term modern-day Christian are not very familiar with. But as the word implies, the timing of your giving, not just the amount, is important.

As believers, we are tempted to meet our financial needs first, then consider giving God a portion of what remains. It's worth noting here that Jewish law dictated that harvesters avoid the edges of their crops, leaving grain behind for the poor to glean. So essentially, we make God a gleaner when we give to him from the leftovers. This is not honor, it is charity. Giving of firstfruits is different. It requires a different mindset, and reveals a different set of beliefs about God.

Do you believe everything you have is a gift from God, or rather the fruit of your labor alone? Do you believe God’s promise to provide for your every need or do you secretly fear God’s promises are just a metaphor or maybe meant for someone else? The fact is, the way we give reveals our heart on these topics.

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God doesn’t need our money. What He wants is our heart. But where and when we give our money reveals our heart to Him.

 

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INSIGHT TO ACTION

Christians do not live by Jewish law. When we place our faith in Christ he abides in us and is our Constant Counselor, helping us to more than fulfill the law, for He turns our hearts as well as our hands to the will of God. We are simply to search God’s Word, then search our hearts and prayerfully consider our actions. I say “simply” but sometimes it seems having a law to follow certainly sounds more simple.

There is wisdom in having a system; a pre-meditated approach to following God’s guidelines. It is worth thinking through your personal approach to giving to make sure it both honors God and opens a pathway of full blessing in your life.

What will your plan of giving be? Have you been holding back? I urge you to assess the areas of your life in which you await a harvest, and resolve to give the firstfruits with abandon. Determine to give today and act on your commitment with a sense of urgency. Then wait and watch as God’s divine economy turns in your favor.

Do you have a story of a time you gave and God blessed you? Come over and join the conversation on Facebook.

Many Blessings!

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PROVERBS SERIES

This post is part of a Series exploring wisdom from The Book of Proverbs. Many great leaders have made a habit of reading a chapter of Proverbs a day – convenient since there are 31 chapters in all. Solomon, the book's author, was known as the wisest man in history, whose first and highly rewarded action as Israel's King was to ask God for the wisdom to lead we

 

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