Giving to the Needy
In a time when Christian giving is at an all time low and debt and selfish spending is at a record high Jesus teaches us how to give. As disciples of Christ we should truly love to give because we understand that everything we have has been freely given to us, Matthew 10:8. Therefore, let us take on the challenge to be generous givers in secret who change the world and only look to heaven as our great reward!
TEXT
Matthew 6:1-4, “1 Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
SERIES TERMS
- Sermon on the Mount: The longest single portion of Jesus’ teaching found in Matthew 5-7 that serves as the foundation of Christian morality and spiritual practice. #KingdomBasics
- Disciples: Born again committed students and followers of Jesus Christ.
- Kingdom of Heaven/God: The active rule and reign of Jesus in one’s life and upon the earth with kingdom blessings. The kingdom is all about the King!
INTERPRETATION
- PRACTICE RIGHTEOUS GIVING: Jesus, along with Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:9, considered giving to others with a joyful and pure heart to be an act of rightouesness, v. 1a.
- DON’T MAKE GIVING ABOUT YOU: Jesus warned about giving in selfishness by wanting attention from others, v. 1b.
- LOOK TO HEAVENLY REWARDS: Jesus taught not to look to getting your reward for giving on earth because people know about it, but rather keep your giving between you and God so you will have a great reward in heaven, vs. 2-4.
APPLICATION
- Give tithes and offerings faithfully to God as your primary way of helping the needy.
- Don’t give to get attention. Give because you love God and people.
- Ask the Lord to bless you to be a blessing to others.
- Thank God for the chance to be a giver and for His great promise of heavenly rewards.
STATS
- Tithers make up only 10-25% of a normal congregation.
- Only 5% of the U.S. tithes, with 80% of Americans only giving 2% of their income.
- Christians are only giving at 2.5% per capita, while during the Great Depression they gave at a 3.3% rate.
- If all the Christians in the U.S. tithed there would be $165 billion for churches to use and distribute.
- $25 billion could relieve global hunger, starvation and deaths from preventable diseases in five years.
- $12 billion could eliminate illiteracy in five years.
- $15 billion could solve the world’s water and sanitation issues, specifically at places in the world where 1 billion people live on less than $1 per day.
- $1 billion could fully fund all overseas mission work.
- $100 – $110 billion would still be left over for additional ministry expansion.
- Not to mention if we gave “offerings” above the tithe- imagine what we could do!
We give God our treasures to express that He is our greatest treasure!