The Truth About

Giving

God’s Dare to Give Scripturally

1. Giving is the most frequently discussed subject in the Bible.

2. The more you give the happier you will be! (Acts 20:35)

3. Giving is essential to salvation. (Mk. 10:17-22)

4. Money can rule our lives. (I Tim. 6:9-10)

5. Everything belongs to God (Psa. 50:9-12)

6. There is no record in the Bible where God ever accepted less than 10 percent from any of His followers.

7. We must give to God first. (Mt. 6:33)

Purpose in Your Heart

After sitting through 90 minutes of high pressure what happens?

Some give in and other don’t!They had purposed in their hearts and nothing is

going to change their minds

Giving with Purpose

2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

When it comes to giving, we should purpose in our hearts what we are going to give before we have the money and nothing is going to change our minds.

Giving with Purpose

This simply means deciding what percent we are going to give before we have the money.

The reason we determine a percentage and not a specific dollar amount is because we are to give as we have prospered (I Cor. 16:2)

Simple Math

If a man purposes in his heart that he will give 20 percent of his income to the Lord and he receives a check for $1000, then he will give $200 to the Lord.

No decision has to be made when the money comes in – only a calculation.

If he receives check for $1 million, he will give $200,000. It truly is as simple as that.

Why “Purposing”?

The reason for “purposing” is so persuasive emotional appeals will not derail our giving.

People often fail to give scripturally because something always “pops up”.

It might be that the car needs new tires (unexpected expense) and since that extra money “can’t” come from the rent, utilities or retirement, it “must” come from our money set aside for giving.

First Fruits and Purposing!!!

Why “Purposing”?

It might also be that we receive extra money one month (bonus, etc.), but giving some of that would be giving too much of God’s money back to Him???

The beauty and wisdom of God’s instruction to purpose in our hearts is that external factors will not affect our giving.

Scared of Commitment

Some fear committing to give a certain percentage because they argue finances are too unpredictable. What if I have a decrease in income?

They can’t commit to a “giving schedule”.

We already make financial commitments on a regular basis.

Scared of Commitment

If you own your own home, you have arranged to pay your lender a fixed amount of money every month for the next 15 or 30 years.

You have purposed in your heart to make those payments.

Scared of Commitment

The difference between making those payments and following God’s instruction is that if your income drops, you may not be able to pay a set dollar amount on your mortgage, but you can always give back to God as you have been prospered because the amount is a predetermined percentage of your income.

The actual amount of your check to the Lord may be less, but the percentage will be the same and you will be obeying the Lord.

Daniel 1:8

Daniel simply decided what he would and would not do before he was

ever confronted with the situation.God applies that same reasoning to

our giving. He knew that money would have the power to persuade, and corrupt, so He instructed us to decide our course of action before we possess the money.