Sacrificial Giving

I grew up a middle child, with two older sisters and two younger sisters. Each of us has our own distinctive perspective on our childhood years. We remember different things or remember the same things differently. We agree, however, that our family was far from affluent. Money was scarce and our parents learned how to stretch a dollar, but we never went hungry. Our father’s garden and our mother’s canning its produce were one part of the way they made ends meet. When things got particularly tight before dad’s payday, my mom got creative. She sometimes substituted powdered milk for fresh milk. I still detest powdered milk.

Our family was actively involved in a small church. The church, like our family, often seemed to have more bills than cash. Each Sunday our father would give a check with our family’s offering to a different child to put in the collection plate, reminding us the gift was from all of us. We knew the money given to the Lord through our church could have been used to buy us new shoes, nicer clothes, or other things we needed or wanted. But every week, no matter how tight our finances were, we offered the check to God. Putting those checks in the offering plate taught me a lesson I’ve never forgotten. 

When I was in elementary school, my parents committed themselves to become tithers, people who give the first ten percent of their income to God. That was a monumental challenge for them because of their limited income and five children. Every year they incrementally increased the percentage of our income given to the Lord until they reached ten percent. Giving in this way was their heart’s desire. Each year’s incremental increase was a sacrifice shared by the entire family. 

By the seventh grade, my parents had taught me to save money and to live within my means. I raised strawberries and put most of my earnings into a savings account for college. When I entered high school, my parents’ goal of tithing had plateaued, just a half percent short of their goal. They could not figure out how to squeeze that little bit more needed out of dad’s paycheck to complete the tithe. Finally, they committed to quit smoking and use the money they had previously spent on cigarettes to reach their goal of tithing. Their decision and sacrifice made a deep and lasting impression on me. Their actions spoke louder than their words.

Years later, when I went all-in for Jesus, no one told me to tithe, but I naturally understood that my commitment to Jesus needed to be expressed through all my words and actions, including generous giving, which for me began with tithing. I have tithed the first ten percent of all my income ever since that day. When I married Ellie, she also joyfully shared my commitment to tithing. We consider this a helpful spiritual discipline. We have given the first ten percent of our gross income to the church and then gave other gifts, over and above the tithe, to meet other’s needs as God leads us. And now, over fifty years later, I have no regrets about my commitment to tithe. In fact, I highly recommend it.

I share this not to brag, but to testify that it is impossible to out-give God. He does not need your tithe or your gifts. He is a God of abundance. His wealth makes Jeff Bezos look like a pauper. Yet God gave his Son and his Son gave his life. God expresses his love through giving. Love gives and gives sacrificially. Disciples must learn to love in this way as an important component of Kingdom living. But even though God does not need our gifts, we need to give them. We pray that the recipients of those gifts will receive them as a gift from God, because that is what they are. 

Tier III challenges turn our attention outward to the world around us. In our consumer-oriented society, our attitude toward money is considered radical. Jesus taught his disciples that Kingdom economics is more about giving than getting. And if we are going to make a difference for Jesus, it requires expressing love through generosity. The focus of the first three parts of Challenge 9 is on financial generosity. But finances are just one aspect of generosity. In Part “D” we will explore another aspect of generosity that goes far beyond financial generosity.

The Dynamics of Generosity

The Old Testament law required God’s people to tithe. Tithes are mentioned twenty times in the OT, including the passage below:

⁸ “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! 

“But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ 

“You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. ⁹ You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. ¹⁰ Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!”
Malachi 3:8-10

This passage is the last message from God in the O.T. Malachi’s prophecy came eight hundred to one thousand years after Moses had given the law that required God’s people to tithe. After Malachi, there were 400 years of silence when God did not speak before the coming of John the Baptist and Jesus. Note several things from this passage:

• Malachi did not need to explain what a tithe was because everyone in Israel understood what it was and that the law required it.

• God accused his people of cheating him because they were not tithing. The premise is that the tithe “belongs” to God. To withhold it is to cheat God out of what rightfully belonged to him. 

• The tithe rests upon the truth that everything belongs to God. When people returned a tithe to God, they were acknowledging that everything they “owned” was a gift from God and were returning the “first 10%” to the owner.

• Finally, God promises the people if they resume tithing, he will open the windows of heaven and his abundance (blessings) will overwhelm them. He invites them to test him on this.

God continues to invite disciples to test him in this way and God always keeps his promises. But if we decide to test him, we may be shocked by what happens. Yes, we will experience more of God’s abundance, but we probably won’t become multi-millionaires. Instead of amassing wealth we will discover the joy of giving. We give because God has given everything we have as an expression of his love. In response, “we love because he first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19). You share what you have received because love gives.

Some people may object and point out that we are not under the law since Jesus and the NT never required a tithe. This is true. But it is also true that Jesus did not lower God’s standards, but consistently raised those standards. He said that if you’re angry with a person and curse them you have committed murder. If you lust you have committed adultery. If a soldier requires you to carry his equipment for one mile, carry it for two miles. The N.T. takes us to the cross, where we are confronted with the inexhaustible generosity of God. He gives his all. Since this is the biblical pattern, suggesting that disciples of Jesus should be less generous than those who lived in OT times seems at best, odd. Consider this:

⁴¹ Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts.⁴² Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins.

⁴³ Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny amount of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has to live on.”
Mark 12:41-44 [The Widow’s Offering - Also in Luke 21:1-4]

Think deeply about this passage. Jesus was intentionally observing people and what they were giving at the Temple. We usually think of our finances and our giving as a private matter and get nervous when a preacher talks about giving. However, Jesus freely spoke about money and giving. Moreover, several wealthy people in this story offered significant amounts of money, but Jesus was not impressed. However, when a poor widow dropped in two pennies, he called his disciples and identified the widow as the one they were to emulate. “They [the rich people] gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.” Apparently, Jesus measured generosity not by how much is given, but by how much a person has left after we give. It is a sobering way to measure giving. This is a Kingdom perspective on money and generosity. Jesus’ teaching is shocking in our self-centered and consumer-oriented economy. 

Over the years, I have read multiple studies that found that poor people give much more (percentage of income) than the affluent, measured by the percentage of their net worth or income. There may be many exceptions to this pattern. I know many affluent people who give generously and sacrificially. But the bottom line remains the same: Jesus measures generosity not by the amount we give, but by the amount we have left after we have given. 

The Uncomfortable Truth

The deeper truth about generosity is that it gives us an accurate reading of what really matters to us. We deceive ourselves so easily. Is Jesus Lord of our finances? Our giving reveals our hearts—what matters most to us. Listen attentively to Jesus’ words. 

²⁰ Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Matthew 6:20-21, 24

Yes, this is similar to the third warning we considered in Challenge 8, Part C (“The Love of Money”). But if you want to avoid the idolatry of greed, overflowing generosity is the road to freedom and joy because love gives. No matter how much you give, you can’t out give God, because giving is also an expression of grace. And the more you share God’s love and grace with others, the more love and grace you receive. 

³⁸ Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”
Luke 6:38

²⁹ And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.
Matthew 19:29

Bottom line: Everything you have received is a gift from God. Giving is a spiritual discipline that reveals your heart, what matters most to you. Giving expresses love. Giving is a means of storing up treasure in heaven. You will always ultimately receive more than you give. Consequently, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor 9:7, NIV) That is what my father and mother taught me without using words. It was a priceless gift that is still bearing fruit.

THINKING IT THROUGH

But blessed are those who trust in the LORD 
and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. Jeremiah 15:7

THE TRUTH: God demonstrated his overflowing love and generosity by giving us his son and his son giving his life. 

YOUR CHALLENGE: Disciples respond by giving generously and joyfully. 

The Scriptures, questions, and notes are for group discussion and personal reflection. Our goal in Tier II is character transformation which requires sustained effort and growing faith. The questions can help you understand this challenge at a deeper level. We encourage you to focus on those questions that you find most interesting or helpful. This is not a test, but a tool to help you understand the challenges.

Related Scriptures

Two of our Related Scriptures are excerpts from 2 Corinthians. The Apostle Paul planned to deliver a cash gift to the Jewish disciples in Jerusalem from the Gentile disciples in the churches he had started. The Jewish disciples in Jerusalem had become impoverished outcasts following their decision to allow uncircumcised Gentiles into the church.

2 Corinthians 8:1-15 ¹ Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. ² They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.
³ For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. ⁴ They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. ⁵ They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.
⁶ So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving. ⁷ Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving.
⁸ I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.
⁹ You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.
¹⁰ Here is my advice: It would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it. ¹¹ Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have. ¹² Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. ¹³ Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. ¹⁴ Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal. ¹⁵ As the Scriptures say,
“Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough.” 

2 Corinthians 9:6-11 ⁶ Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. ⁷ You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” ⁸ And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. ⁹ As the Scriptures say,

“They share freely and give generously to the poor.
Their good deeds will be remembered forever.” 

¹⁰ For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.
¹¹ Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.

Philemon 6 ⁶ And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ.

Leviticus 27:30 ³⁰ A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the LORD.”

Malachi 3:8 ⁸ Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.”

Questions

1. Have you ever considered giving generously or tithing to be a spiritual discipline? Make a case for why giving sacrificially should be considered a spiritual discipline.

2. Some people accuse God of being stingy. Use examples from your own life to counter this view of God.

3. The phrase “love gives sacrificially” occurs several times in Challenge 9. If you believe it is true, share at least one experience when you witnessed sacrificial love, received sacrificial love, or gave such sacrificial love. Or refer to a biblical example of sacrificial love.

4. Have you ever experienced joy through giving sacrificially? Share an example.

5. Generosity is usually equated with giving money, Make a list of other ways you can express generosity.

6. Challenge 3 focused on giving thanks to God and fostering an attitude of gratitude. Explain why gratitude may also be expressed through acts of generosity.

7. Does Part B of challenge 9 make you feel uncomfortable? Why or why not?

8. Tithing was a covenantal stipulation and part of the OT ceremonial law. But we believe that those in Christ are not bound by the OT ceremonial law. Write a paragraph either supporting tithing as a helpful guideline or rejecting it as an OT legalistic relic that should be ignored. 

9. Write your thoughts on the relationship between grace and generosity.

10. Why does the OT instruction of tithing stress it is the first and best 10% that comprise the tithe? 

Copyright © 2024 Don Waite

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