Pastor Sam Adeyemi at Daystar Christian Centre on God’s Financial System. Ephesians 4:28
Someone who is just coming to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior can move from someone who has been getting money through corrupt means to someone who makes money legitimately and is even having enough to meet people’s need. If you hurt people to make money, it will come back to hurt you. The way the Bible puts it is that it activates a curse and that curse is a spiritual power that frustrates a person’s attempt to prosper. When you become a Christian, your greatest motivation on this planet is love and you don’t hurt the people that you love. Romans 5:5. The major proof that you have Jesus Christ in your heart is that you stop hurting people. It takes time to grow spiritually but you don’t deliberately begin to hurt people. Stealing hurts people. When you hurt people to make money, you are a money worshipper. You value money over human life and that is not the lot of a Christian.
A believer must work. Work is not just going somewhere to while away time. Work is adding value, meeting needs and solving problems. You offer a product or service that meets people’s needs and value comes back to you in the form of money and other things. When you become a Christian, you rid your mind of the value for vanity. It is just human nature. We like vanity. We like to get something for nothing. Kill this line of thought as a Christian. You must work. You earn money and make the money also work for you by investing. This is Biblical. The parable of the talents as highlighted in Matthew 25:27 where Jesus was speaking to the young man that was given one talent who did not get any increase on it. Jesus said the least he could have done is to take the money to the banker so that it will generate interest.
In Ephesians 4:28, it states that the purpose for working is to have money to give to those in need. You would think that the purpose for earning money is to eat but Paul the Apostle jumps over that and states that the purpose is to give. A Christian should work to give,not to eat. A Christian should not be worrying about what to eat or drink. Matthew 6:25-33. Taking care of those that are in need is part of God’s basics of Financial System. The first crisis of the New Testament Church was about the distribution of food. It was important and priority so if you belong to a Church, the Church must care for the welfare of the members. Money is earned to increase your giving capacity.
WHY IS GIVING IMPORTANT
1) Giving is the greatest commandment because loving is the greatest commandment. Matthew 22, John 3:16. Giving is loving. The proof of love is giving. If you love, you will give. When I look through the Gospels about what Jesus said about Heaven, I conclude that Heaven is for lovers and if Heaven is for lovers, then Heaven is for givers. Matthew 25. Every human is an extension of God. Whatever God does not deserve, don’t give it to human beings. It has been observed that one can give even without loving. I Corinthians 13:3. Motive may be completely different. Greed can motivate a person to give, even fame and competition. Look at the story of Ananaias and Sapphira in Acts 5. They saw people giving in Church, some people selling their asset and bringing the money to Church just so they could give to the poor and they also wanted to be counted among those that were giving powerfully in Church and lied about what they were giving. Also, the revelation of giving has been abused by many greedy preachers who manipulate the Scriptures and put fear in people’s heart just to be able to get money out of their pockets. However, that cannot remove the power of giving from Scriptures. Fake will always be proof there is an original.
2) Giving gives you happiness because you make others happy.
Be a giver if you want to be happy. Money does not give happiness. The money that you steal and the money that you greedily keep to yourself when there are people suffering around you can rob you of happiness but the one that you give to meet needs in people’s lives gives joy. Psalm 41:1-3. Money does not buy happiness but if you use it to change people’s lives, you will be happy.
3) Giving gives your life a sense of meaning.
This sense of meaning is what most people are looking for but when they get it, they will recognise it. Giving is your destiny. Your life is too small to be the purpose of your life. You are too loaded, too gifted, too talented to expend everything God gave you, including all the resources you will get materially and financially on yourself. Ephesians 2:10, Acts 10:38, 20:35. You won’t make the most of your life without sacrificial living. John 12:24. Unleash your potential by being a giver.
4) Giving causes you to get more so you can give more.
Once you start the cycle of giving, it is proof that you are a good Steward of Heaven’s resources. Heaven will release more to you. Philippians 4:15-19.
5) Giving leverages the principle of exchange of value to give you invisible resources.
When you give, you will receive from Heaven. What you will receive will be intangible but it will attract material and financial blessings to your life. Abraham entertained God and God released a prophecy, breakthrough that shattered every barrier. Jacob vowed he was going to give God 10% of all his income, God gave him a revelation in the dream. What was genetically impossible happened. The cows of his boss gave birth to the one they agreed would be Jacob’s salary.
Instead of all the stipulations of giving under the old covenant, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us now. Romans 8:14. Whenever the Holy Spirit speaks to you to give, act promptly and be on the ready.
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