Practical guidance on giving

Hansruedi Graf

The Word of God provides an antidote so that we do not succumb to the tendency to do nothing else but save. This is to give to others out of the material means the Lord has entrusted to us. The Apostle Paul passes on an important word the Lord Jesus Himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ (Acts 20:35). Those who give find this principle always holds true in practice: it is much happier for us to give something than to receive a gift. God is a giving God. In His love, beyond our understanding, He gave His own beloved Son to die for us. He could not have given us anything greater. What response will we make to Him? Are we prepared to open our hands and give Him a material sacrifice and help people in need?

‘Begging of us with much entreaty to give effect to the grace and fellowship of the service which was to be rendered to the saints’ (2 Cor. 8:4). Grace — the way this word is used here has the same meaning as giving — does not make giving optional for it is a privilege and at the same time a responsibility. It is a tangible expression of our love for God and also of our fellowship with Christians who are suffering distress. The same word is used here as the one used for our fellowship with the Lord in order to emphasise this character of giving.

Why do we give?

Here are some reasons:

  • Giving has a positive influence on the development of our character and attitude to life. It is an antidote to meanness, selfishness and love of money (1 Tim. 6:10).
  • It makes us contented and happy. It is in this sense the Apostle Paul instructs the rich to be ready to give ‘that they may lay hold on eternal life’ (vs. 18–19).
  • It is an investment for the future and the way to lay up treasure in heaven: ‘Sell what ye possess and give alms; make to yourselves purses which do not grow old, a treasure which does not fail in the heavens, where thief does not draw near nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be’ (Luke 12:33–34).

To whom and for what do we give?

God’s Word gives us some hints on this:

  • To our families and relatives: ‘If any one does not provide for his own, and specially for those of his house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than the unbeliever’ (1 Tim. 5:8; see also Mark 7:10–13). This is our first responsibility.
  • To the poor: As believers we should not ignore poor people when we come across them: ‘He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed, for he giveth of his bread to the poor’; ‘He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack; but he that withdraweth his eyes shall have many a curse’ (Prov. 22:9; 28:27). The Lord said of them that we will always have them with us (John 12:8), and so it is — in our immediate neighbourhood and around the world. It also says in Ephesians 4:28: ‘Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.’
  • For the Lord’s work and His servants: We point out the following principles:
    • ‘the labourer is worthy of his hire’ (Luke 10:7; compare 1 Tim. 5:17–18).
    • ‘Let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teaches in all good things’ (Gal. 6:6).
    • ‘Do ye not know that they who labour at sacred things eat of the offerings offered in the temple; they that attend at the altar partake with the altar? So also the Lord has ordained to those that announce the glad tidings to live of the glad tidings’ (1 Cor. 9:13–14).

Ways of giving

On the one hand, the Word of God shows us that our giving can be done directly. A believer sees a need and helps there and then. We also think of 1 John 3:17: But whoso may have the world’s substance, and see his brother having need, and shut up his bowels from him, how abides the love of God in him?’ Another example is the woman in Proverbs 31 — verse 20 says of her: ‘She stretcheth out her hand to the afflicted, and she reacheth forth her hands to the needy’.

On the other hand, a number of passages in the New Testament teach us about the collection in the local assembly. ‘By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually to God, that is, the fruit of the lips confessing his name. But of doing good and communicating of your substance be not forgetful, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased’ (Heb. 13:15–16). Here the spiritual sacrifices (praise and worship), which we bring to God collectively, are connected with the material sacrifices (doing good and sharing). God delights in both kinds of sacrifice.

How do we give?

The instructions in 1 Corinthians 16:1–3 give us some hints:

  • Give in secret: They say: ‘each one of you lay something aside’ (NKJV). This shows us that giving is a personal matter between each of us and the Lord; it does not concern others. ‘When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand does’ (Matt. 6:3).
  • Give methodically: Giving should be planned, not be left to chance — ‘I give what I find in my wallet; if I don’t have anything, I won’t give anything!’ Neither is giving a matter of the emotions. That is why we should make it the subject of prayer so that we act in dependence on the Lord in this matter also. Those who use a budget will also have a column in it for the work of the Lord. If we have a clear plan, we can give methodically.
  • Give regularly: They say: on ‘the first day of the week’ — that is, every Sunday. This means that I do not just give to the Lord after pay day, which usually comes once a month, but every week. The Apostle Paul instructed the Corinthians to give and to collect regularly ‘that there may be no collections when I come’.
  • Give responsibly: The Lord Jesus wants us to give to Him as we ‘may have prospered’. Pay rises on the one hand and increasing household costs on the other affect our financial situations. Both need to be considered when we give.

Encouragement and promise

As an encouragement for giving we quote the following words from the Bible: ‘But this is true, he that sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that sows in the spirit of blessing shall reap also in blessing: each according as he is purposed in his heart; not grievingly, or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver’ (2 Cor. 9:6–7). This does not need any explanation. We read in the next verse how God responds to our generosity: ‘God is able to make every gracious gift abound towards you, that, having in every way always all-sufficiency, ye may abound to every good work’.

The following words of our Lord will also come true when giving: ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you’ (Matt. 6:33).

Hansruedi Graf[1]

[1] Extracted from The Christian and Money.

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Appeared in: Truth and Testimony, 2021