Give to Give
There is a false teaching in our day that we should give to get. It is a teaching that itching ears long to hear because the selfishness of our hearts wants to get more than it wants to give. This teaching profits a few but impoverishes the souls of the ones who are drawn to it.
Beware of the teaching that is pleasing to your flesh, for it might not be from God. “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3 NLT).
The most often used verse to promote the “give to get” message is from Galatians 6:7 NJKV, which says, “…whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” The message is that if you give more things to the church, then you will gain more things in your life. This message is wrong.
If you can’t discern what’s wrong, then you just might embrace it. “Then you will again see the difference between righteous people and wicked people, between the one who serves God and the one who doesn’t serve him” (Malachi 3:18 GW).
One must only look to the next verse to see that the “give to get” fleshly message is wrong. Galatians 6:8 NKJV says, “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption…” In other words, if you give with the intent to get more for your flesh, you will only become more corrupt.
If our motive behind giving is to get, then where is the sacrifice? “But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Hebrews 13:16 NKJV).
But if you give to give, giving sacrificially, then you will gain spiritually an everlasting reward. Galatians 6:8 NKJV also says, “he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” When we give sacrificially to the Lord in the temporal, then He gives to us abundantly in the eternal.
Never let the things you do for God become more important to you than God. “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6 NKJV).
When Jesus saw the poor widow giving the last couple of coins she had, He honored her for what she gave and never spoke of what she might get back for doing it. Jesus watches how we give and considers that more important than how much we give and what we might get in return here on earth. See Mark 12:41-44.
Obedience is better than sacrifice because it flows from who you are, not just things you do. “And Samuel said, ‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams’” (1 Samuel 15:22 ESV).
Whenever you are tempted by the message “give to get,” consider the higher teaching from Jesus Himself, who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35 NKJV). Jesus knows that giving sacrificially fills our spirits while giving to get only fills our flesh.
The more you pour out, the more full you will be. “The Pharisee stood up and prayed, ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people!…I give you a tenth of my entire income.’ But the tax collector was standing at a distance. He wouldn’t even look up to heaven. Instead, he became very upset, and he said, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ [Jesus said] I can guarantee that this tax collector went home with God’s approval, but the Pharisee didn’t’” (Luke 18:11-14 NOG).
When you give rightly, the Lord will be pleased. You may not ever gain materially, but the Lord will bless you spiritually. Stop looking to be rewarded in this life, but in the life you will have in heaven. Whatever you give is releasing the weight that prevents your faith from going higher.
Givers always have plenty, and takers never have enough. “One who gives to the poor will never lack anything, but one who shuts his eyes will have many curses” (Proverbs 28:27 NASB).
When you give expecting nothing in return, you are telling the Lord that you trust Him with all that you have. If you really believed that He could care for you, then you wouldn’t think twice about your giving. Everything you give Him is but a small part of everything He gave you.
Sacrificial living means that you’re willing to sacrifice in your life and do not expect anything in return other than to honor the Lord and please Him with the way you’re living.
If you worry about not having enough, then you’re telling the Lord that He is not able to meet your needs. But if you can give with a smile of confidence in knowing that He has you, it will be there that the Lord will gladly accept your offering.
Be the sacrifice, and then you will have nothing to lose. “…present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1 NKJV).
Give to give and trust that the Lord will provide for you. Give to give and be thankful to be free of the bondage of things. Give to give and let the Lord be your portion. Give to give, and then receive that which will last into eternity. Give to give, and your giving will be acceptable to God.
Your worth is not what you have but what you give.
Remember that often, those who preach “give to get” will get what you give, and you’ll get nothing. This does not mean you should not give, but you should discern where your giving is going. We are called to be wise stewards of everything that the Lord has entrusted to us.
If you want to make wise choices, simply ask God to help you. “If any of you lacks wisdom [to guide him through a decision or circumstance], he is to ask of [our benevolent] God, who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5 AMP).
Blessings to you always,
Paul Balius
Paul, you so wisely write: Never let the things you do for God become more important to you than God. “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6 NKJV).
What we can do for God, that is, what we can give to God, Who Is unformed Love and the uncreated Creator, underived Good and unoriginated Perfection, the sole Source and sufficient Supply in His faultless timing and faithful way, should never in our view of value become more major or motivating to us who are His own workmanship, than the wondrous worth of Himself working impeccably, irreproachably all, including the most bad and the most ugly, together for absolute good for those who truly love Him more than the grand sum of all creation.
As laid down, submitted Christ lovers, we most certainly ought to increasingly trust Him to do in us and through us that which we could never do ourselves, including both that of receptivity of His grace and responsiveness to His truth, as He is from everlasting to everlasting the Real and Living Way. The Law came by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. The best we can do is give up entirely on ourselves and lean with all our being on Himself as our Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption, working in us both to will and to do His good pleasure. There is none good but God; He is the Giver of every good and perfect gift. He is the Vine, we are the branches; apart from Him, we can do nothing. Even abiding in Him, rather than trusting in the arm of flesh, His resurrection life, glory, and power are expressed, manifested, and demonstrated in us and through us as fruit that remains and indeed abides the ages of eternity. To the God of all grace be all the glory!
Galatians 2:20-21 AMP
20 I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21 I do not ignore or nullify the [gracious gift of the] grace of God [His amazing, unmerited favor], for if righteousness comes through [observing] the Law, then Christ died needlessly. [His suffering and death would have had no purpose whatsoever.]
It is a beautiful moment in the live of a believer when they finally realize they are the instrument and the Lord will pick them up and play His song through them to a world that needs to hear Him so much.
Yes, I love your analogy. Christ Jesus is the Master Musician and the Song of Songs, the Holy Romantic. His beloved bride is the Shulamite. His Spirit is His fervent Fire, breathing in us, blowing through us, spirit and soul, His Divine Desire, to a wrong, wicked, and wounded world, destitute of meaning, purpose, and direction, on a catastrophic collision course with He Who Is Righteous Reality, the Living, Eternal Word, the Alpha and the Omega.