Give Well

"Giving is a mindset."

GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER. And then we groan. We all need to tithe. And then we quote the Old Covenant. Let’s pause here for a praise break. “Satan had me bound. Jesus set me free. Satan had me bound. Jesus set me free. Satan had me bound. Jesus set me free, singing glory, hallelujah, Jesus set me free.” Take your seat please … Getting down to brass tacks, God does love a cheerful giver, and that should be us, and we do need to GIVE. Note the ALL CAPS because I’m going somewhere with this.

Point one: Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant law completely. Tithing and firstfruits were Old Covenant Law. Now, before you throw your Bible at me, I’m wearing a Spirit helmet. Thou hast beset me behind and before, O Lord. Beginning again, firstfruits has a Hebrew meaning of note. The word origin refers to the firstborn of a husband and wife or their cattle. This could open a can of worms, but we’ll narrow it down to say Jesus was Mary and Joseph’s firstborn under Old Covenant law, and He was God’s firstborn and only begotten Son. So also being the Christ, He was the firstfruits that Israel’s firstfruits giving looked forward to. Which was fulfilled. See first sentence in this paragraph.

Now, the tithe was also an Old Covenant commandment which was meant to feed the priesthood that served night and day in the temple. Jesus is our faithful High Priest. He was also the tithe paid. Hold that “what?” sitting on your tongue because Jesus is everything, like every picture of anything under the Old Covenant is Jesus, except incense and salt, that’s us. Except He was also human, so that makes Him incense and salt. You read that right. He’s the temple, the door to the temple, the shewbread, the lampstand, the altar, the sacrifice, and we could go on. He’s also the tithe. Which was fulfilled.

Turn with me now to Hebrews 7. This is a very King Jamesy passage about the tithe, specifically Abraham’s tithe which became Levi’s tithe because Abraham was Levi’s grandpa. But note Jesus is the priest which has risen after the order of Melchisedec who changed the law because of who He was (is). And note also verse 19 which says, the law made nothing perfect. Most quote Malachi 3:10 in reference to the tithe, and here’s the reason why you needed to read Hebrews 7 first because Malachi, who was an amazing prophet and man of God was an Old Covenant prophet and when he prophesied about Israel not tithing it was because they were in sin under the Old Covenant (not tithing was sin). We are not under the Old Covenant. WE ARE UNDER GRACE.

Now, should we GIVE? All caps again. The answer is yessamundo. But salvation is by GRACE now and not BY WORKS. So tithing is not tithing like it was, just as the priesthood is not the priesthood as it was, and we are saved which includes all we’ll ever need to live a long, happy life. You are NOT CONDEMNED for not tithing nor headed to hell nor do you need to suffer poverty. “Soteria,” translated salvation, means “safety (physically or morally): - deliver, health, salvation, save, saving.” Let’s mix in the word “peace” from the New Testament as well. (God is the God of peace.) This is the world “eirene” which means “peace (literally or figuratively); by implication prosperity: - one, peace, quietness, rest.” So God’s got you covered in the prosperity department.

The only place the word “tithe” appears in the New Testament is where Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees about being stingy (this was under Old Covenant law), and in Hebrews 7 which is also talking about Old Covenant law. GIVING, however, is throughout the New Testament. The church at Philippi was commended for their giving to the apostle Paul who said, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” They had given generously, and God would bless them abundantly. Yet, we must back up a few verses as well and not get hung up there. What did Paul say about his daily prosperity?

“I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” (Philippians 4:12)

He knew how to be content. Verse 11. In whatsoever state he was in, he could be rested and peaceful and happy. Blessed. Which leads me to another well-quoted giving verse in 2 Corinthians 9. Here, Paul is commending the generosity of the Corinthian church. They had prepared a gift which he says he did not want to be given “under pressure (TPT).” Giving, he tells them should not be forced or done under compulsion (ISV) but cheerfully from the heart. Giving, he says in verse 8 is done out of the abundance provided by God’s grace.

GIVING IS A MINDSET. Thank you to Pastor Jason at Access Church in Lakeland, Florida, for this wonderful revelation. It is not Old Covenant law, done because you “have to” do it, nor because if you don’t, you’re in sin. It is cheerful and generous because your Father in heaven is cheerful and generous. Salvation comes from His grace. Giving comes from His grace. You are now, through salvation, IN CHRIST and His nature resides in you. His Spirit resides in you, and throughout the New Covenant we see evidence of how much God loves to give, His greatest gift of all being His firstfruits, Jesus Christ.

We must renew our mind to reflect God’s heart. We know to renew it in other areas – sexual sins, “uncontrolled addictions, wild parties, and all other similar behavior (Galatians 5:21 TPT). We must also renew it where money is concerned, and this means more than simply not being afraid to give or being a complete tightwad. In all areas in which money could influence our behavior, we must submit it to God and WALK IN THE SPIRIT. How much to give, where to give it, under what situation we find ourselves giving, all of our decisions in regards to giving are NOW SPIRIT LED.

Our primary reason to give is compassion from the love of God. 1 John 3:17 says, “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God In him?” Giving is an outgrowth of love, The action of love is mercy. Our God’s mercy is everlasting. It flows from Him continually. It’s who He is. We love like Him and so we give like Him, not thinking of ourselves, our lack, our stresses and straining, but of the benefit to others. There is no fear in love, so there should be no fear in our love of giving. And this attitude covers giving to the church you attend, to a church you visit, to a Christian minister who blessed you, to organizations that feed the poor. It is God’s love in us that causes us to give, and His joy that flows out of His Spirit that makes us cheerful when we give. It isn’t an attitude from the flesh which we worked ourselves up into so that we could sort of smile when we gave. God doesn’t have to work up love in His heart, and you have Him in you, so neither do you.

We’ve overdefined giving as we’ve done with other subjects in the New Covenant. Are there different spiritual gifts given in the church? Yes. But they are as the Spirit wills because they are meant to bring unity. They work together. Our giving is the same way. Whether we call it tithing or an offering or benevolence, it’s giving. There is a definition for each word, but the process of them is done IN THE SPIRIT because of our relationship with Him. We spend time in His Word, reading and studying and hearing His heart. We spent time in prayer and worship, learning His presence, so that when He asks us to do something (giving included), we do it because we love Him and He loves us and there’s just so much love we could float a boat across the clouds.

Too much definition in our giving makes us just like those Pharisees I referred to way earlier. They were tithing of the finest herbs but ignoring the heart of God where love was concerned. Here are the people in Malachi as well, who didn’t give or gave from what was diseased and of lesser quality. What of the widow who gave her two mites? Why was that so significant? Because her attitude in giving exceeded those of more “importance.” She gave her all (Mark 12:42-44). It was not just the amount she gave that mattered but that she gave it well. Let’s give well, from a generous heart, that loves to give like our wonderful heavenly Father who gave of His abundance so that we could live abundantly and from that abundance bless those around us, who will see Jesus in it.

“We have now received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God himself, so that we can understand something of God’s generosity towards us.” (1 Corinthians 2:12, Phillips)

“For I already know that you are on board and eager to help. I keep boasting to the churches of Macedonia about your passion to give, telling them that the believers of Corinth have been preparing to give for a year. Your enthusiasm is contagious—it has stirred many of them to do likewise.” (2 Corinthians 9:2 TPT)

“Let giving flow from your heart, not from a sense of religious duty. Let it spring up freely from the joy of giving—all because God loves hilarious generosity!” (2 Corinthians 9:7 TPT)

Image by ANDRI TEGAR MAHARDIKA from Pixabay


----------
Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com