SOME PRINCIPLES OF SCRIPTURAL GIVING

adapted from a lesson by Bobby Duncan received via e-mail per Hayden Childs

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  1. Our Giving Benefits US, not GOD:

    1. Psalm 50:10-15

    2. Acts 17:24-25

    3. Who was benefited by :

      1. Abraham’s offering Isaac in Genesis 22? Abraham! - vv 16-18

      2. Offerings made to build the tabernacle — Exodus 36:5-7

      3. When the woman made a cake for Elijah? — 1 Kings 17:8-24

      4. Selling of possessions, lands & houses — Acts 2:45; 4:34-37

      5. The woman who broke the alabaster box? — Mt 26:7; Mk 14:3

      6. The giving of the Macedonians? — 2 Corinthians 8:1-6

    4. God can & will use our gifts, be they ever so small in our own eyes (the widow’s mites), but our giving is for our own blessing.

    5. Acts 20:35 (parents watching children open gifts at Christmas)

  2. One Can Never "Out-Give" God:

    1. Malachi 3:8-12

    2. 2 Corinthians 9:6-8

    3. Ephesians 3:20-21

    4. Luke 6:38

    5. John 3:16

    6. Galatians 1:3-5; Galatians 2:20

    7. 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3

  3. God Gives to us in Proportion to the Way We Give to Him:

    1. 2 Corinthians 9:6-10

    2. Who believes the poor widow of Mark 12:41-44 starved to death?

    3. I have never known a Christian who declared himself poorer as a result of practicing scriptural (i.e., sacrificial) giving.

  4. One’s Giving Reflects the Way He Feels About God:

    1. 2 Corinthians 8:8, 24

    2. Mark 7:36-47

    3. How do you know how much God loves you, except by what He has given to us - John 3:16

  5. Seven Characteristics of Scriptural Giving:

    1. Scriptural giving is LIBERAL giving.

      1. Romans 12:8 — "he who gives, with liberality"

      2. 2 Corinthians 9:6 — "he who sows bountifully . . ."

    2. Scriptural giving is giving with PURPOSE:

      1. 2 Corinthians 9:7

      2. 2 Corinthians 8:1-2, 10

    3. Scriptural giving is from the HEART:

      1. 2 Corinthians 9:7

      2. 1 Corinthians 13:3 — provoked by LOVE

    4. Scriptural Giving is CHEERFUL Giving: 2 Corinthians 9:7

    5. Scriptural giving is REGULAR giving.

      1. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2

      2. When we are away on the Lord’s Day, we are still obligated to give to the Lord’s work.

    6. Scriptural giving is PERSONAL giving

      1. 1 Corinthians 16:2

      2. Husband and wife may combine their contribution in one check, but each should have a part in deciding the amount.

    7. Scriptural giving is done according to one’s PROSPERITY:

      1. 1 Corinthians 16:2

      2. 2 Corinthians 8:12

      3. Does your giving reflect your prosperity? Multiply your giving by 10 & see if you could live (& save) at current levels on that.

  6. Perhaps one reason we have not given sacrificially of our means is b/c we have not given of ourselves in a sacrificial manner:

    1. Romans 12:1-2

    2. 2 Corinthians 8:5

    3. 2 Corinthians 9:6-10

 

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