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No One Has Ever Become Poor by Giving
Generosity is a matter of the heart
The Parable of the Seed
While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable:
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants.
Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” (Luke 8:4–8, NIV)
Jesus went on to explain the parable. Essentially there are 4 types of hearts (soil) that the Word of God (seed) falls on:
- Hard — the truth does not penetrate
- Rocky— the truth will wilt as soon as hard times hit
- Thorny—the truth wars against the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches
- Good — the truth grows and bears a harvest
It’s important for us to protect our hearts.
There are 3 main ways we can protect our hearts:
Tithe
Give to the church. The church is called to be salt and light to the world. This costs money.
To bless the community through activities like Vacation Bible School, Boys & Girls Club, and Missionary Supports cost money.
Give to the poor
Jesus spoke about this a lot. Sponsor a child. Donate to the Shoebox program. Help out at a warming house.
It’s not just about money but also about being generous with our time, effort, and talents too.
Give generously
The call we have on our life is to give generously of time, money, and efforts. Do you want to be more like Jesus? Give more.
Generosity is the very character of God.
Hoarding is born out of fear
Jesus warns us to be careful about hoarding. Dread and fear of not having enough are in direct opposition to the fact that God will provide.
It’s a heart issue.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19–21, NIV)
Generosity is the deposit in the bank account of heaven.
We can learn that as we give, God gives back to us.
We can never outgive God.
“No one has ever become poor by giving.” ~Anne Franks