Christians live surrounded by people with misplaced values concerning money. The prevailing mindset says to hoard what we have because sharing the wealth with others means less for us. However, this way of thinking is a stumbling block. Although we may know intellectually how financial giving demonstrates our trust in God, we can still struggle with the fear that holds us back from doing so.
We can have head knowledge of something without it sinking down into our hearts; giving is one area where this can be clearly seen. Our discomfort is based on the fear from the enemy’s suggestion that what God promised in His Word won’t come to pass for us. Giving is planting a seed for a future harvest; trusting God enough to give allows Him to take care of us and multiply what we have. “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10). We must see giving not as a loss, but as a gain.
The devil will tell us whatever he can to convince us to trust in money more than in God. What he doesn’t tell us is that when we don’t believe what God says regarding the link between giving and blessings, we cut ourselves off from the benefits. We can trust that God will always tell us the truth. “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19).
When we give, others get blessed. Blessings on others can also come back to us, because giving generously with the proper motives positions us to receive blessings God has already made available to us. He’ll never leave us in lack or insufficiency when we trust Him. “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
Our giving should be planned and intentional. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the specifics of financial giving with the goal of helping and ministering to others. “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come” (1 Corinthians 16:1, 2). God doesn’t expect us to give more than we have. Paul taught proportional giving, which is to give only the amount with which we’re blessed.
Paul also urged the believers to give because they wanted to, not out of a sense of guilt or obligation. “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:6-8). God wants the best for us, in our finances as well as in all other areas. Faith in this conquers our fear of giving.