From birth, all of us are about ourselves. Being considerate, sharing, giving, loving and bringing are not automatic qualities within us, we have to be taught them and practice them regularly. However, even when we have mastered the head knowledge on what these terms mean and seen them in action, our part in living them out can be another story.
Today I would like to challenge us, me included, to not only develop our giving and bringing skills, but incorporate these so much into our lives that we continually become better givers and bringers.
In Scripture, there is a difference between these two, givers and bringers, but both come with blessings as encouragements to adopt these qualities as lifestyles or at least part of your lifestyle.
Giving many times has the expectation of receiving a return either voluntarily or directly. There are instances of unconditional giving also and those are the highest forms of giving to pursue.
An example of what I am calling voluntary giving would be when one provides help for another, supplies a gift or the like and either appreciation is returned by the receiver to the giver or the giver is helped in like manner later on - fulfilling the law of sowing and reaping.
An example of direct giving is a seed placed in the ground and one receives the plant expected.
Giving has more of a personal, on-your-own-initiative characteristic. One might be persuaded to give, but nobody forces one to give. With what the believer has determined to give, I desire for us to fulfill the giver's forever- attitude of the heart and mind mentioned in 2 Corinthians 9:7 -
"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."
The act of bringing, in Scripture, has the notion of possessing something but ownership of that something is already God's and He is requesting you bring it back to Him for whatever reason.
An example of this is honoring God by praising Him through accepting one another just as Christ accepted you - this brings what is already God's properly before Him. Romans 15:7 says it like this - "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."
Another example is the bringing of the believer's tithe, the first ten percent of income. By honoring God this way and the way just mentioned, Christians are living in obedience. When obedience is maintained so is God's blessing.
Like mentioned before, the blessed life is encouraged by both being a giver and a bringer. Listen to Jesus as Luke records just how much a giver will be blessed -
"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38)
Three keys here to grasp -
- Give ("Give")
- Give generously as possible ("A good measure")
- Watch your measuring parameters ("For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.")
Now listen to Malachi 3:10 as he states -
"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."
Notice that this is one of, if not the only thing in Scripture that the Lord says believers may "test" Him in. Note that He is concerned about enough food being present in His house. He knows even the tithe will be a challenge at times, but if we bring "the whole tithe" we will not be able to contain the blessing that He sends us personally.
Giving from the heart needs to become a lifestyle and it comes with tremendous blessing - "A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap." The act of bringing back to God what is already His needs to become a lifestyle and it comes with tremendous blessing - "see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it." This is what it means to be God's Giver And Bringer.
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