Giving God’s Way

Do you consider yourself a generous person? Are you charitable? Is giving second nature to you? And when you give, what is your motivation? Why do you give? During His ministry, Jesus spent some time teaching about giving, a habit that isn’t particularly natural to most people, even Christ-followers. In fact, for many, generosity doesn’t come naturally; it has to be learned.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught about the vital practice of giving and what it should look like for His disciples. (Matthew 6:1-4). Generosity, in the way Jesus teaches, is born out of a heart yielded fully toward God. First, Jesus makes clear how He doesn’t want us to give… Giving should never be about calling attention to ourselves, but about glorifying God. (6:1) In other words, Jesus doesn’t want us to toot our own horns about our giving. (6:2).

Apparently, during Jesus’ time, there were some who liked to call attention to their generosity, probably by making a lot of noise when they dropped their coins in the donation boxes. Jesus said about them, they have received their reward. (6:2)

So how does Jesus want us to give? 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” (Matthew 6:3) What does that mean? The picture Jesus was painting is that giving should come naturally for Believers. It should be second-nature; something we do without even thinking about it.

What is second nature to you? Enjoying a good meal, sitting down to watch TV, checking your social media feed? There are lots of things that might be second nature to us, but for most people, giving is not one of them; yet generosity is a practice Jesus expects to be second nature for His followers. Is it to you? Are you giving in the way God expects? What would it take for you to get there?

For much more, click here to listen to guest speaker, Andy Lackey’s message: Sermon on the Mount - Part 7 - Giving God’s Way.