What is giving and why should you give?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines giving as; providing love or other emotional support; caring. I actually did not know that an English dictionary can have a very powerful meaning to such a word. In short, a simple dictionary tells us that giving is not outside of emotion and love.

People give for many reasons including; recognition, pride, genuinely, selfish gains, to please other people, to sanitize a bad reputation etc. Giving always has returns. The Bible says:

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

Luke 6:38 ESV

Do you realize that most billionaires are philanthropists? Do you really know why? It is because they know the art of giving, whether they do it for their selfish gains or not, they are aware of the spiritual law that states, “Give and it will be given to you.” This law doesn’t apply to just children of God but to any human being.

There are spiritual laws that cut across the Bible; for example God told Adam to be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it and take dominion over all creation. This spiritual law applies to anyone born of Adam whether in darkness or light. Any man can be fruitful, multiply, subdue and take dominion ever the earth.

It is very weird that heathens have mastered the art of giving and that’s why almost all billionaires give heavily. Sadly, Christians are always convinced by the same heathens not to give to their money to churches and men of God because they are cults that steal from them.

It is devastating that the child of God will listen to such nonsense and will die poor wishing they had an inch of heathens’ wealth. The heathens on the other hand will continue to increase as they have fulfilled their father’s agenda which is to ensure Children of God do not master the art of giving.

Most people do not understand what giving is nor what it entails. This is why so many children of God have delayed harvests or reap that which is not substantive. Giving is a form of worship. It is not merely sharing what you have. It is an art, a dedication and a sacrifice.

If God is the owner of everything, why then do we give? Why does He need our money?

Most people give with the mentality that they are here to support God, that they support His ministry and I hear them say this in most churches, “Give whatever you have, the Lord accepts anything.” I am here to tell you that the Lord doesn’t just accept anything.

God is not a God of handouts. God has expectations of us according to our individual levels. God judges with the much you can give and not just the what you can give. He also keeps note on the how. He rejects Saul after he refused to wait for the prophet Samuel and gave some shoddy giving.

In Leviticus 10, God doesn’t shy from killing two sons of Aaron, a man who diligently served Him. A man that walked with Moses and saw the Israelites out of Egypt. He killed the two sons simply because they used ‘unauthorized fire’.

Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 

Leviticus 10:1-2 NIV

I love how the Lord tells Aaron immediately after killing his sons:

Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke of when he said:

“‘Among those who approach me
    I will be proved holy;
in the sight of all the people
    I will be honored.’”

Aaron remained silent.

Leviticus 10:3 NIV

Now, God has killed certain elements of so many Christians e.g. their jobs, their businesses, their marriages, their children etc. simply because of how they approach Him through giving. God has also hinted and taught them through men, through sermons and through strangers of how He is to be approached; of how He is to be proved Holy and how He is to be honored in the sight of all people.

It is heartbreaking that the child of God is too numb to hear or see it. The good thing is that today, through this post, God will show you how He is to be approached & honored in giving.

So why do we give?

The main reason why we give is because it is in our nature to give. God made us in His image and likeness and because God gives, it is in our likeness to give as well. This makes giving a default setting in men.

All through the Bible God is giving; He gives Adam of Himself (creating him in the image and likeness), He gives Him a wife, He clothes them even after sinning, He gives Abraham a son, He gives Israel a king even though He knew a human leader will mess them up He gives an ultimate sacrifice of His begotten son for man to gain salvation.

Man fell and slowly he gets the contrary which is selfishness. Anything that is not in the path of God takes the complete opposite path which is of the devil. Through the Bible, man becomes mean and isolates God from his domain. He builds a government where he wants a fellow man to rule him, he forms his laws and forsakes the law of God wanting to gain complete control.

The same thing replicates today. We see men foreseeing a troubled future and they pile up savings to save them in what they call a ‘rainy day’. This is because they have completely subtracted God in their financial equation.

But I love how Jesus tells them of ‘rainy days’:

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:25-34

This doesn’t mean also you spend recklessly. It doesn’t mean you become frugal because your heavenly father has money. It means that you should have the right mentality that even though my father is a wealthy man, I need to take care of His estate.

People have turned into the love of money; they worship it and it has become their God. You will overhear children of God saying, “When you have money you have everything.” Others will hate money because they do not have it. The child of God completely doesn’t know how to handle money and that’s why they run to heathens to teach them how and where to invest, manage and save for rainy days.

The church on the other hand is with bed with politicians who paint their murk on its altar for that extra coin. The church believes that God vanished especially in wealth and sustenance and that’s why the child of God will be a commoner in church and the politician who carries the devil’s agenda will be a royal priest.

This has given children of God a bad notion that money and wealth is in only found in their jobs, businesses and connections and that’s why you cannot convince such that there is power in giving.

There is a very stupid phrase I hear Christians say. They say, “You know you do not know about tomorrow, you need to save!” Child of God what happened to, “I know the plans I have for you?” or “The steps of the righteous are ordered by the almighty?” You need to know who handles your future.

If you are saving for misfortunes, you are damn assured that misfortunes handles your future and they MUST come. Why? As a man thinkeths so is he. Job pre-empted misfortunes for the longest time and this is what he said:

For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, And that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; Yet trouble came.

Job 3:25-26

Giving is life and that’s why those who store up money to cover their uncertainties end up worshipping it as their God. Do you realize that the Bible doesn’t advocate for saving for uncertainties? The only time children of God has to save was when they were in Egypt, why? Because God couldn’t work in that atmosphere and the only way out was for them to save.

Believe in God in everything and for sustenance. Believe that God’s ways are limited. Believe that he can use a dog to hand you money. Jesus told Peter to go get money from the mouth of fish. Let me ask you, how many fish are there in the ocean? But why are you only limited to your rich uncle and your job?

Where Should I Give?

There is a reason why Jesus talks about the parable of the Sower. Most people think that that parable has got only one interpretation; it was only for those who read and understand the word. Consider yourself a Sower (a giver) and you are putting in your seed on different grounds.

The spiritual law is that whoever gives receives. This is why even witchdoctors ask for something owned by you to do their funny things. I know of a friend who never goes to their village. He told me that as a very young boy they were taught never to give anything to anyone as they will be bewitched.

It is sad that the child of God really believes in the occult and not in what gives life. Using the same scenario, I assure you that you can give to some churches and receives exactly what spirit they carry in their finances e.g. suppose a church has loans, you will receive the same spirit of loans in your finances.

This however doesn’t mean that you should quit your church because it is poor. It doesn’t mean that you move to a richer church. No! It is so funny that most of the people in rich churches are the poorest. Most go to get connections and try to tap into the spirit of wealthy congregants to no avail.

Child of God, don’t see a ‘rich’ church and think that God is there. The devil masquerades himself in light as well. You will see most of them crumble and you will be shocked. Learn to test spirits. John says that you should not believe every spirit. We should test spirits to see whether they are from God.

For every test, one needs to have the right apparatus. There is a reason why in Chemistry we had to test the pH of a chemical using litmus papers. We did not test them using our tongues. It is devastating that children of God test using what they see.

The devil knows that there is a great reward in planting in rich soils and he will deter the child of God from doing so, sometimes with meaningless business plans, stupid slogans like, ‘Life is short, party more’ and sometimes he brings across religious ‘men of God’ with eloquence of speech but lacking in power.

I have a sincere question, “But why should a church have loans? Do you want to mean that a representation of God cannot believe in their being for sustenance? Isn’t it ironical that where financial freedom is preached is where financial bondage resides?”

Now, relate the same question to your life. I hear most Christians recite the verse, “They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength” and most times I laugh. This is why the child of God needs to be discerning enough to know where God resides.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV

The most basic foundations in giving is to know the soil. You need to know the conditions necessary for your seed to germinate. No matter how willing you are and how rich you are, you cannot farm on the roof of your car and expect a bountiful harvest. Find that good soil.

How do you find that soil? He says that, “My sheep knows my voice.” You need to have intimacy with Him first to know His voice. He is found by those who diligently seek Him. And seeking Him is as simple as vulnerably saying, “Lord, I want you to direct me to the good soil.”

It is so easy to spend lavishly but so hard to give unto the Lord. It is sad that the child of God will admire those who spend recklessly and lavishly and not those who carry the agenda of God. This explains why a child of God can sink in loans to compete with the devil. We all know how it ends.

You need to know who you are giving to first – that is part of getting to know the soil. You have to understand that you are giving to the most High God. The one who was, who is and is to come.

How Do I Give?

The first thing you have to fix is your mentality. Giving requires a certain posture. It requires you to die. It requires that your insufficient wealth dies first so that you get the eternal one and that’s why the Bible says that you should store your riches in heaven. A seed dies first to sprout.

Remove the mentality that you are supporting the work of God. You can never support God. God can do without your 1,000 or even 10 Billion Shillings. Have the mentality that you are honoring Him and you are connecting to Him through your giving.

Most people give to receive. I have seen so many people use God as a betting machine, and they approach Him with a gambling mentality because they are undergoing a financial crisis. Inasmuch as we must receive through our giving, mentalities really impact our reap.

The Bible says:

Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 NKJV

A farmer tills the ground and prepares the ground before giving. You have to prepare to give. You also have to be willing and ready to give. David wanted to give a sacrifice to God and wanted to buy a threshing floor from Araunah. Araunah offered it to him for free but David refused. He told him that, “I cannot give to God that which doesn’t cost me nothing.”

Your giving has to cost you something. Sometimes even your life. Imagine a whole God was giving to man and it costed Him his life, ironical right? You have to go all in like Abraham who was ready to kill his son or like the Widow in Zarephath who was ready to die with her kid but have a total stranger eat their last meal. Most times you must be willing to die in your giving.

Most children of God are in competition while they give and they think that they please God by the hefty amounts they give. The rule of thumb is that you should never take a loan to give to God. God’s agenda is not sustained by loans. He always provides and will always provides because He is our sustenance.

Jesus on the cross says:

Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.

John 17:1 NIV

Most have also had to quit church because they were looked down upon on their giving. Some have hated themselves because they didn’t have anything to give. Giving to God is not a competition. It is relative. You are not supposed to be forced to give for God loves a cheerful giver.

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9:7 ESV

Children of God have been competing to give in church forgetting that giving is relative. A man would give 10 Million shillings to church and doesn’t move God and a widow can give two copper coins and moves heaven. Giving is not a competition is it a fulfillment of a yearning and service to God.

Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.

Deuteronomy 16:17

Giving is mostly never the amount but the sacrifice and the joy and the peace and the fulfillment. Sometimes it has nothing to do with the sacrifice or the amount but carrying out an agenda of God. A man of God challenged me and said, “Giving is not how much you give but how much you remain with.”

We have had other children of God who had to sell everything and give everything to the church and they remain desolate because they think God wants them to suffer for the kingdom. You have to give with understanding. The understanding that God loves you so much to see you suffer.

You have to set your heart straight first, the scriptures say:

For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

2 Corinthians 8:12 ESV

You have to give with discernment that comes by hearing His word and getting His revelation. Sometimes giving can be painful and hurting if not done with revelation. I have seen many leave church and hate everything to do with church simply because they thought selling everything and giving it to the church is the ultimate thing.

Well, there is/was a time for that but that has to be done with revelation. The child of God should see themselves as a steward of God’s riches. That wealth only passes through their hands. That they are custodians and not really owners.

Children of God should scrap the mentality of “My hard-earned money!” and rather say, “God’s money.” Shift your mentality that the money or wealth you have is yours. See yourself as a custodian and that you are here to pass it on.

This is why the Lord says, He gives seed to the sower.

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

2 Corinthians 9:10 ESV

Note that He gives seed (that which multiplies) to the sower (the one who plants). Unless you plant, God will never give you seed. He will give you the same handouts you give to Him hence fulfilling this scripture;

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

2 Corinthians 9:6 ESV

Consider different farmers farming different sizes of land. The one who farmed one acre will only get the much that an acre can produce and one who farmed a thousand acres will get what a thousand acres will produce. This is why the Bible talks about measures:

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

Luke 6:38 ESV

My man of God expounded me and told me that, “50 bob respond to 50 bobs, hundreds respond to hundreds, thousands respond to thousands and millions respond to millions. The choice is yours.” Do not be pressured by the much other give. Ask yourself, “Am I giving a measure relative to what I have?”

Do you want a good measure? Sow a good measure! Be cheerful, know that you are doing this for Him. He asked Cain, “If you do good, will you not be accepted?”

When Should I Give?

God gives you everything every time but most Christians have only relegated Him to a Sunday man. They only give to Him only on Sundays. They think that He is only available at the altar on Sunday or hanged on the cross in their crucifixes.

I will quote some scriptures first:

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Hebrews 13:6 ESV

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

Malachi 3:10 ESV

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.

Proverbs 19:17 ESV

One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

Proverbs 11:24-25 ESV

Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.

Luke 6:30 ESV

Just from a sample of the above scriptures, is there a specific time to give? Can you do all that on Sunday alone? There is no time to give as the Bible also notes that freely were you given and freely shall you give. You have to be free in giving. Do not give under compulsion or with a doubting heart.

Child of God, note that your a thousand shillings used for the agenda of God is more powerful and effective than a billion dollars used in vanity and in agendas that are not recognized in heaven. Your a thousand shillings can heal your finances, your marriage, your drunk uncles and your spiteful family. If you made it ten thousand? What effect can it have?

Challenge yourself to give more. Have the readiness of heart to increase your giving not for show off or selfish gain but to please the Lord because the Bible says:

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Matthew 6:3-4 ESV

Are you looking for somewhere to give? I stumbled upon some rich soil in Limitless Worship a people with the zeal and devotion for the Lord. Go check them out. I am a testament and product to giving to this ministry.

I have handled the why, the how and the where in giving. I will do another article on What God expects you to give to Him.

Tell me your thoughts in the comment section below, your questions or pitfalls in giving and I will be ready to answer all your questions.