Day 4: A Quick Assessment of Giving

1. As Christians, we must be involved in the act of giving to God
   
   
2. God’s expectations in this area of giving have not changed since the beginning of time, and He won’t be changing them before the end of time: He has always expected us to give our very best and to give the first-fruits of what we have—not our leftovers
3. Though not mentioned specifically in the New Testament, giving a tithe to the Lord seems to have been the understood amount to give by the disciples in the first century; anything above and beyond a tithe would probably have been considered a sacrifice, or going beyond the required amount
4. We must make sure that we are not robbing God—taking what is rightfully His and spending it on ourselves
5. Our tithes and sacrifices can be used in many of the same ways as we see them being used in the Scriptures (worship locations, worship enhancements, supporting paid leadership, providing spiritual materials, providing for the needy, outreach to the lost, emergency relief, missionary efforts, etc.)
6. Giving can be facilitated in various ways (weekly contributions, special mission’s offerings, HOPE offerings, need offerings, etc.)
   
   
7. As Christians, we must have the right heart and the right attitude in regard to our giving to God
   
   
8. God is monitoring our hearts whenever we give, so we must always strive to keep our hearts pure in this area of giving
9. We must give regardless of whether or not we have the right heart or the right attitude, but we must always strive to have the right heart and the right attitude (much like sharing our faith, coming to church, obeying various teachings in the Bible, treating people in the right way, etc.—in other words, we must always act our way into a better way of feeling instead of feeling our way into a better way of acting)
10. We must trust the leadership God has put in place in the church to administer the funds in an appropriate and godly fashion as they did in the Scriptures
11. We must develop a happiness in regard to giving that comes from knowing we are no longer attached to the world and that our treasures are in heaven 
12. We must find joy in our giving, a joy that simply come from obeying God’s word and being fully behind His plans and purposes
13. We must guard our hearts from the dangers of greed, worldliness, the love of money, the desire for other things and the trap of “keeping up with the Joneses”
14. Americans are in a position, perhaps better than almost everyone else in the world, to give more than others; and certain Americans are in a position to give more than other Americans
15. We have been blessed with so very much, and our hearts must be inclined to give of our wealth to God and share of our wealth with others
    
    
16. As Christians, we must deal with any possible roadblocks (sins) in our giving to God

1. We must overcome any fear that God will not take care of our needs if we give our money to the church or to other worthy causes
2. We must strive to eliminate debt from past (and current) purchases that can keep us from being able to tithe or sacrifice
3. We must eradicate the materialism that gets into our hearts—materialism that puts the acquiring of “things” above giving our first-fruits to God
4. We must repent of any lack of discipline to be on top of our finances so we can be certain to give to God in a worthy manner
5. We must deal decisively with any lack of trust we might have in the leadership of the church to spend the money given in an appropriate manner
6. We must overcome any lukewarm attitudes that can cause us to not be concerned with spiritual matters as we should be

   A Final thought:

• The ability to honor God with our giving is possible for each and every disciple. To do this, we must have a deep love for God and His purposes, a biblical conviction about giving and a commitment to deal with any personal roadblocks that stand in the way of participating in this kind of giving.