One aspect of dying to the flesh and expanding your Love walk is giving. Our Heavenly Father established this most fundamental truth in the most well known Scripture in the New Testament:
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
The word “so” emphasized the magnitude of HIS Love for mankind. Our Heavenly Father projected HIS Love by including every person who was ever born and who will be born. I have found one of the greatest tests to determine how dead to the flesh you really are is whether you can cheerfully give or instead, is that voice inside of you compelling you to hold on to that resource deemed to be scarce.
2 Corinthians 9:6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
Within this passage is a key to maturing as a Son. We know that the love of money, also known as greed, is the root of all evil. Thus the distribution of money or lack thereof is a general indication of your level of spiritual maturity and your revelation of Love. Jesus’ revelation of Love was so great He gave His life for all mankind, the greatest act of giving.
Have you developed a pattern of giving? If not, how do you expect to continue to mature when one of the greatest hindrances is not dealt with? Jesus made the point with the rich young ruler. Many ministries stay away from this topic in fear they will offend their donors and cut off their own source of payroll. How can we expect to be fully pleasing when we will not deal with the one area known to be the most subtle issue of “self”? Your ego would try to convince you that anyone approaching the subject of giving is simply out to extract your money from you. That is where the real manipulation lies.
Years ago, Our Heavenly Father instructed me that if I give with a pure heart, HE will bless that giving EVEN if the recipient did not use the funds accordingly. It is all about intent. At Servias Ministries, we don’t want to pry your money out of your hands. We simply receive gifts from willing and cheerful givers. If you are giving nothing into the Kingdom, can you really expect to be chosen for use in the Kingdom? If you are always receiving and never giving, your state of maturity is in question.
As a practical point, planting good financial seeds will lead to good financial fruit. My wife and I discovered this reality years ago. Our Heavenly Father takes pleasure in meeting the needs of those who are cheerful givers. Giving can take on many different forms: time, possessions, money, words of encouragement, etc.
In the past, ministries used these Spiritual truths for their own agendas, apart from the intent of Love. Does this mean that the Laws associated with giving no longer apply? Of course not. Your ego would convince you to steer clear of any discussion in this area. Why? It is one of the last and most subtle areas you must deal with before you have fully matured.
There are those who are faithful givers, some who occasionally give, and those who simply receive and never give. Those are all indications of levels of maturity. If you never give, I would suspect that you really question Our Heavenly Father’s ability to rally resources on your behalf. Your eyes are on your situation and your faith has not matured to the point of believing every Word HE has spoken. When your eyes are finally opened to the reality of how Our Heavenly Father responds to a cheerful giver, you will understand Paul’s words:
Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.