Monday, November 22, 2010

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Do you Have to Give?

November 22nd, 2010 at 10:16am by Josh Burcham

Do you have to give? Yes. If you consider yourself a Christian you must give. Jesus and the Bible commands Christians to give to their local churches. Though the reason we are commanded to give might not be what you are expecting.

You see, giving is a heart issue. Money has a special draw for people and people never have enough of it. The bible actually speaks to this, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10. Money has the ability to take control. Control of your actions, your thoughts and ultimately your heart. We have all heard the stories of people losing everything in their pursuit of riches. Stories of marriages and families dividing. Stories of deception and murder. The love of money leads to nowhere good. Whether you believe the truth from the Bible or not; you understand the power that money contains.

Jesus doesn’t command us to give for the sake of His churches needing money. He commands us to give for the sake of our hearts. At Ridgepoint Church we have a core value: money is never our focus, but giving gauges the heart. As I stated before, giving is a heart issue. Churches don’t need your money. God will provide for His Church. He doesn’t need you to do it. But He does want you giving. When you give your money away; you are giving away control. Control of your finances and in a lot of ways control of your future.

But you become dependent on God to provided. Strengthening your faith so you can do great things for His Kingdom. When you give, you are saying that God’s plan is better than your own. You are putting your priorities in the correct order. As you give you gain an understanding that God will always provide, your faith grows and you start to believe in the impossible.

Then when God lays His plan out for your life. The plan the is greater than you are. The plan that you can’t accomplish without God acting on your behalf. You have the faith in your Creator to run into the unknown to complete His plan.

Here is a short video from the great people over at Elevation Church on the simplicity of giving.

Remember, don’t give for the sake of giving. Or for the sake of your local church. Give for the sake of your heart. Because giving is a heart issue. Don’t have a church to give to? Check out Ridgepoint Church’s values and mission. Give here.