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Category: Giving

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What a reassuring promise! Philippians 4:19 tells us that God will supply our every need, but notice that this verse comes after discussion of the support that the Philippians gave to Paul. (Philippians 4:15-19) We cannot take this verse out of the context of the rest of the Bible; we must look at it in light of other scriptures.

Throughout the Bible we are told to give generously. The ancient wisdom of Proverbs tells us that those who are generous will be blessed, but those who withhold their wealth will come to poverty. (Proverbs 11:24-25, Proverbs 22:9) In Malachi 3:10 we are encouraged to bring the whole tithe into God’s house. This is one circumstance in which God invites us to test Him, and He promises to pour out a blessing upon us from the windows of heaven. Some people believe, or perhaps just use as an excuse, that this was an Old Testament law, and no longer applies to those of us living under the grace of the New Testament. However, this is essentially the same thing that Paul says in Philippians 4:19, God will supply your need according to His riches. Luke echoes this in Luke 6:38: Give and it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. I always think of baking when I read this verse. When you fill a measuring cup with flour, then press it down and shake the cup a bit, it creates room for more. This is the way that God gives; He presses down the blessings, shakes the air bubbles out and keeps on giving past the point where there is room to hold any more. But our giving has to come first.

When Paul thanked the Philippians for giving to him, he emphasized that it was not because he needed more (though it certainly was a blessing to him), but so that they would be acknowledged for their gift. Their generosity was an indication of their hearts toward God, as they were really giving to Him. (Matthew 25:40) God is pleased with such sacrifice (Hebrews 13:16), and He loves a cheerful giver. (II Corinthians 9:6-8) If you give generously, you will be blessed, and both the giver and receiver will experience joy in the gift.

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Did your mother ever tell you that you had to share? Most mothers do. I find it interesting that children are forced to share when it is not a habit that is practised by most adults. While discussing this with a friend the other day, the parable of the ten virgins came to mind. (Matthew 25:1-13). Five of the ten came prepared for the long wait with extra oil for their lamps, and five didn’t. The ones who were unprepared asked the others to share their oil. If that were to happen today, would the prepared virgins be criticized for not sharing? Would they be called mean, just because they prepared for themselves but not enough to also take care of others? After all, we know from other passages in the Bible that God likes us to care for the needy (James 1:27, Matthew 25:40) and He loves a cheerful giver. (II Corinthians 9:7)

To be honest, sharing was not really the point of the parable, but it is interesting that the five virgins who wouldn’t share were not condemned for it. They were commended for being prepared, while the ones who had not brought enough oil to get them through the night were called foolish and were banned from the wedding feast.

Preparation is the point of the parable. Since it is a parable, the focus is to be spiritually prepared for eternity. The oil is representative of the Holy Spirit. There are many who call themselves Christians, perhaps because their parents did or because that’s the kind of church they go to, but only those who have truly accepted Christ as Saviour will be invited to the eternal wedding feast. This is your own decision--something you have to do on your own. No one on earth can share eternal life with you, but you can accept it as a free gift from God.

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I think that John 12:8 is sometimes misinterpreted and used as an excuse not to help the poor.  This, however, is not in keeping with the rest of scripture.  John 12:1-7 tells the story of Mary pouring very expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet.  Judas who would later betray Jesus asked why this perfume wasn’t sold and the money given to the poor.  Verse 8 is Jesus’ answer to Judas:  You will always have the poor; you won’t always have Me.  Jesus would have seen Judas’ insincerity and ulterior motive, just as John evidently did.  His response needs to be taken in light of the context.  We know that Jesus cared about the poor.  His answer to a young man who wanted to know what more he could do besides keeping all the commandments was to give to the poor.  (Matthew 19:21)

Was this use of perfume a waste as Judas suggested?  Again, Jesus could see Mary’s heart.  He knew that she was honouring Him by anointing Him in this way.  She did what she knew how to do.  She knew that He would not be with them much longer so she gave what she had of value and worshipped her Lord with it.   Worshipping the Lord and giving to the poor are not mutually exclusive; we should do both. (Luke 10:27)

I heard an interview recently with Arloa Sutter, Executive Director of Breakthrough Urban Ministries www.breakthrough.org and author of The Invisible. She believes that Jesus may have been quoting from Deuteronomy 15.  In Deuteronomy 15:4-5, we read that the Lord would bless the people if they would only obey His commandments—the ones referred to in Deuteronomy 15:1-3 regarding the cancellation of debts every seven years.  In Deuteronomy 15:11 the Israelites were commanded to make sure that they opened their hand to the poor and needy in the land.  We must do the same, but not grudgingly, and not only in view of the blessing we will receive, for the Lord loves a cheerful giver.  (II Corinthians 9:7)

Did Jesus mean to say that we don’t need to help the poor?  Certainly not.  Arloa Sutter said, “Jesus might be saying love them extravagantly.  I’m not going to always be here, but the poor you’ll always have.  So love them, because when you love them you’re loving me, and do it with extravagance.  Don’t hold back.”  Now that Jesus is not on Earth in the flesh, the way we honour Him includes what we do for others.  Whatever you do for the least of these, He said, you do for me.  (Matthew 25:34-40)

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Today, my American readers are remembering Martin Luther King Jr., a man who stood  for equality, peace and freedom.  It has become a tradition to honour Dr. King on this date by performing an act of service.  The website at http://mlkday.gov/ invites you to share your story of how you helped others or served your community today, and also “challenges us to make service a part of our lives – every day of the year”.   They would like you to continue to honour Dr. King, and celebrate the 25th anniversary of this holiday by pledging to perform 25 acts of service this year.  That averages out to just over two kindnesses per month.  It doesn’t sound like that much really, does it?  Unfortunately, when we get into our busy routines and hectic schedules, we tend to focus only on our own desires.  We want to work to meet our own goals, and we leave the downtrodden to fend for themselves.

Have I got good news for you!  Proverbs 28:27 tells us that those who give to the poor will be blessed.  It is a common theme in Proverbs and throughout the Bible to give to the poor, but here the command is stated with a blessing.  If we give we will not lack.  That means that if we ourselves aren’t very well off, giving will not impoverish us.  God will find a way to bless us and give to us.  I’ve often heard it said that you can’t outgive God.

Those who have much really have no excuses.  You have already been blessed, and would not suffer for giving some of your wealth away.  The blessing still applies to you though, for those who give generously will be generously rewarded.  (II Corinthians 9:6)  There is another side to this blessing though.  Those who don’t give, will not only not be blessed, but they will receive many curses.  That is quite a serious statement, one that should be given sincere consideration by each of us.

We are all God’s children, and He doesn’t want to see any of us suffer.  We need to care for our brothers and sisters and trust in our Heavenly Father to provide for our needs.  We who act as His hands and feet to bless others will ourselves be blessed.  What can you do to help someone today?

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I would like to illustrate Philippians 4:19-20 with a personal story.

Almost six years ago my husband and I moved to a new town and bought a house.  This could be a much longer story if I told you all the things that have gone wrong with this house since we moved in, but that is not the main point.  Suffice to say that we have had to do a lot of major repairs, and it has been a drain on our finances.  I should also mention that we live in Canada, in an area affectionately known as the snowbelt.

This house has a fairly large driveway.  Since I work from home, and my husband goes to an office every day, I have made it my responsibility to shovel the snow so that by the time he gets home in the evening he can drive right into a clear driveway without having to go over the pile that the snowplow has left at the end.  This is a time-consuming and sometimes arduous task, but I have seldom minded doing it.

We have a lot of dog owners in our neighbourhood, and they walk by our house frequently.  Almost every time I have been out shovelling the driveway, one or more of my well-meaning neighbours has said, “You need to get a snowblower.”  The first few times that happened I explained that we had higher priorities.  After a while, although I started to get a little tired of the advice, I would just smile and agree.   Over the years, two different neighbours have each helped once when they thought that the task seemed too daunting for me.  These occurrences of helpful neighbours are unfortunately rare, happening on average once every three years.

About a month ago, while stopped at a stop sign, I was struck by a vehicle that had made an unsafe turn.  I am still in a fair amount of pain, and I suffer sometimes debilitating headaches.  Since then my husband has pitched in to take care of all the household duties that I used to do, including the shovelling.  I know that he really doesn’t like to shovel, and he was much happier when I was doing it.  Being the compassionate guy he is though, he cares more about my health than about my contribution to the task.  Nonetheless, I felt bad about it.

One day, after a particularly heavy snowfall, I lamented on my Facebook status that now I wish that we did own a snowblower, so that my husband didn’t have to do all that shovelling.  A conversation ensued that included reasons why we should have a snowblower, where to find a used one, aren’t there any kids in the neighbourhood looking for odd jobs, and don’t I have any neighbours that would be willing to help.  Interestingly, there is a snowblower at just about every house on the street, and despite the advice that I need to get one of my own, no one has ever offered to lend or rent one to me, or to clear my driveway for a fee.  Nor have I had any kids coming to the door looking for work.

Now, let me get to the point of this story.  A day or two after that Facebook conversation, my best friend, who lives about an hour away, called me on the telephone.  She said, “I bought you a snowblower.  All you have to do is come and pick it up.”  I was flabbergasted.  Even a used snowblower is quite a large gift.  Ironically, she bought it from her neighbour who clears her driveway for her.  He was relieved to find out that it was for someone else and that he wasn’t losing a client.  And the point:  It came in a completely unexpected way, but God did definitely supply our need.  Is He prompting you to help a neighbour, a friend or a total stranger?  You could be the way that He supplies a need for someone else.