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 NIV
First of all, someone reading this verse right away might think that the topic of this article is going to be about money. Yes, but it is also about our material possessions, our knowledge and experience, our time, and most important, about the love of Christ that we have for others, which all can apply to this verse. However, there is much more to understand about what can be applied to our lives in this verse, and how it applies to our relationship with Jesus. In this article, we will be looking at, “What Motivates Us To Give… _______”. Personally consider the following examples.
• What motivates you to get up early Sunday morning to come to church when you would prefer to stay in bed because you are tired after a hectic week?
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…” Hebrews 10:25
• What motivates you to come to the midweek Bible study and maybe even causes to rush through your dinner after a busy and stressful day?
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
• What motivates you to give of yourself, such as your experience and or knowledge to help others and to volunteer in Church?
6 “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us… 7 If it is serving, let him serve… 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously” Romans 12:6-8
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:3
• What motivates you to give 10% of your income knowing that the monthly amount is equivalent to a car payment?
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 you will not have room enough for it. Malachi 3:10
What is “motivation” or “to be motivated”?
• Motivation – Incentive, Inspiration, Drive, Enthusiasm.
• To Motivate – To provide with an incentive; move to action.
• The cause of somebody’s behavior – to be the reason for something that somebody does.
• Motivation – Forces determining behavior – psychology – the biological, emotional, cognitive (mental), or social forces that activate and direct behavior.
For a person who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus, seeing someone volunteering, serving, ministering and giving 10% of your finances to Christ’s Church, probably does not make sense. They would easily think that you have been brain washed to do what you do week after week. How would you explain to a person what motivates you and many other Christians to give and do what we do every week?
Going back to our verse Luke 6:38, the point of the verse is what happens when or because we give, but let’s take it back one more layer by asking ourselves these questions, why am I giving in the first place? What is my motivation? Am I just giving to get something back from God? If there is nothing in it for me, would I still give?
When we consider the question of why we give, we need to be careful that our emotions are not the motivating factor or the influence of our giving. Someone who gives emotionally would say, “I give because I am feeling good”. Or, “I give when the pastor’s sermon makes me feel good about myself.” “But when I am not feeling good about what the Pastor said in the sermon, don’t expect anything from me.”
For a person who loves God with everything they are and with everything they have, giving does not depend on how much or how little they have. Jesus makes this point clear in Mark 12:41-44 NIV. “41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything — all she had to live on.”
“Jesus called his disciples to hear his teaching. Jesus’ pronouncement in 12:43 revealed a radical difference between his thinking and that of the world. Jesus and his Father look at a person’s heart.”
When we give from our heart and are encouraged by the Holy Spirit in we will never be limited by how much we have or do not have, what we have will always be enough and be noticed by God that we gave from our heart.
When we give of our material possessions, does our giving involve this reasoning? “When I get a new one I will give away the old one.” We will always have the opportunity to give our used material possessions to someone who is in need, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, every year for about the last ten years Hope Chapel has had a rummage sale, of which many of you have donated used articles that are in good condition and because of your generosity, the funds collected has enabled us to purchase many items needed to meet the various material needs of the buildings.
I personally know a family, on two different occasions who have given their vehicles, which were in good condition to two families. Both families were very grateful to the Lord and to this family for being obedient to the Lord to give away the vehicles. These vehicles could have easily have been sold or traded-in to help with the down payment of the vehicle replacing the one given away. In fact, one of the vehicles was used two years after it was received which gave the person time enough to save enough money to purchase a newer one.
2 Corinthians 9:6-11 teaches various important truths about giving, here are just three. God’s provision for us to always give. The attitude of heart of the giver. The result of our giving in relation to the one who receives.
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written: “He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
When giving of oneself, we should always realize who we are is not of our own doing or making, but we are a new creation in Christ because of who He is in us. What we give is an expression of who Christ is in us and who we are in Him. What we have is not ours but has been given to us from God and is His. We are just stewards or managers of what belongs to God to administer to others as He tells us.
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10
Pastor John
