Giving and Growing

Details: Created: Monday, 01 August 2005 18:29; Written by Tom Lipp

Do you live in a closed system or an open system? A couple of my clients have been encouraging me in their display of generosity and trust in God. They live in an open system and are watching God show Himself faithful.

Wes recently cashed in an RRSP, giving it all to a Christian charity and is trusting God to provide his future needs. He told me he had “watched the Lord kill the lion and the bear in this matter of giving and is confident that God will do it again. How great is our God! Not only does He promise to provide for our needs, but He also pours out a greater blessing so that we can give even more abundantly.” Giving is learned faith in action. Faith is like a muscle that grows through proper nourishment and exercise.

Another client, Stan related the following words, “I was laid off from my job in April, 1996. My newfound financial advisor, Tom Lipp, suggested that I tithe from the severance package. ‘YIKES,’ I said. That’s a lot of money and I need it to buy stuff like, well, food!” But Tom was persistent and so the following Sunday I gave a cheque for over $1000 to God’s work. Two days later I had a new job in my field at the same pay rate. God does work in mysterious ways but there’s nothing mysterious about obedience.”

The key to joyful giving is not to follow a formula but have faith in a Person. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”Stan continues to describe some of his new understanding on this topic. “Tithing is simple obedience to God’s command to give to His work to build His kingdom. I am a slow learner and it took me a while to learn this lesson, but I learned to be obedient in tithing and I think I am being blessed because of it. I recall driving my car to the mechanic several years ago for (another) expensive repair. I thought, ‘I guess God doesn’t want me to have this money for tithing.’ Instantly another thought came into my head: it wasn’t going to God’s money anyway! I would have spent it on myself if not the car. I was finally convicted that I had a bad attitude toward tithing when our pastor did a series of messages about giving. The key verses are Malachi 3:6-9. I was ‘robbing God’ and I felt like I was caught red-handed! I took it to heart and began a tithing program. Note that this is one of the few promises where God commands us to ‘test Him.’ He promises to ‘open the floodgates of heaven and pour out much blessing upon us if we tithe.’ It is true that ‘God loves a cheerful giver’ (2Coringthians 9:7) but read Acts 4:32-35: ‘All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.’”

(NIV, emphasis mine)

“How many Christians today ‘sell all their possessions,’ bring the proceeds to the church and distribute it to those who have need?” Stan continued. “If we think the New Testament has superceded the old, then ‘everything’ is the new level of giving…well beyond 10%!”

Recently I (Tom) have been reading a very thought provoking book on this topic, Wealth, Money and Riches by Earl Pitts and Craig Hill. It encourages us to look to an infinite Father rather than following this worlds’ system of scarcity.

The key to joyful giving is not to follow a formula but have faith in a Person. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”