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Giver’s Gain

If something within you resents giving, that something is not from God. 

God has created a world where it is not possible to receive something without giving something. Giving is the only proof you have that greed has not become a cancer on your soul. 

Think about it. When you go to your favorite department store and find a shirt you like, what do you do? You carry the shirt to the register and hand the salesperson some money. He or she keeps the money and gives you a plastic bag with your new shirt inside. Next thing you know you are out the door without setting off any alarm bells. 

Those alarm bells are the key, because if you receive without giving, it’s called shoplifting. 

Many Christians are shoplifting their way through church. They come to church on Sunday morning to receive without giving anything in return. They come to get healed, to have their marriages saved, their children straightened out, and their businesses put back on course. Yet when that offering plate passes, they avoid eye contact. They mutter something about giving online. They put in a widow’s mite even though they’ve just received their year-end bonus. 

Have you heard of the Pareto principle? This is the 80/20 rule, and unfortunately it applies to churches, not just economies. This principle says that eighty percent of the output comes from twenty percent of the input. In other words, eighty percent of the load is carried by twenty percent of the people. 

The Bible principle is very clear: “Give, and it shall be given unto you” (Luke 6:38, KJV). Until you give, you don’t qualify to receive the power to get wealth. 

The next time the offering plate comes around, see it as your opportunity to prosper. Recognize that the decision you are about to make will determine your financial future. If you give liberally, God will open the windows of heaven and bless you with blessings that cannot be contained. 

God longs to bless you with a tidal wave of blessings, but He cannot bless what hasn’t been given. Deuteronomy 28:2 says, “And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God” (ESV). You don’t get the “then” without the “if.” But if you’ve got the “if” — “if” you obey God, “then” hold on because God is about to blow open the storehouses! 

You’ll be blessed in the city and blessed in the country, blessed at work and blessed at home, blessed in your finances and blessed in your refrigerators, blessed amongst friends and blessed amongst your enemies.