Learning to Give
We treat God like a beggar
versión en español a continuación
My parents taught me to honor God by returning Him a portion of what He had given me from as far back as I can remember. My parents gave me an allowance starting in 7th grade of 50 cents a week.
Everyone else's parents gave them at least a quarter just to put in the offering play in Sunday school. I knew to give a nickel as my tithe.
I know some do not believe in tithing. Anti-tithers have many reasons to say that it is not for today or is legalistic. I have never seen it that way.
To me, it made more sense than anything else I could imagine. How do you recognize God and know that all you have comes from Him? How do you continue to live by faith as you make more and more money?
For me, tithing was always like "teething." It was where you started. God's people began giving God a tenth long before being commanded to do so.
I know that the tithe later became a tax for the Jews. I know that they used it like we would income tax. That has nothing to do with me.
I want to honor God and give Him the first fruits of my life. I want Him to have the first and best part when I get something. From my wallet to my calendar, it should be obvious that I put God first.
I have always thought that one of the most significant ways to show love was to put your money where your mouth is. We can give and meet needs. Talk is cheap. Money costs me part of my life to give.
I think that ten percent is too cheap to consider for our giving.
Well back to my story. I had a 50-cent allowance. I didn't want to give a nickel when all my friends put a quarter in the offering plate, so I started giving 50%.
When Betty and I married, it was never questioned by either of us that we would be giving. It was always at least a tenth.
Then God brought real challenges into my life. I wanted to serve God. I had to know He was great and could and would answer prayer. I had to know that He would show Himself powerfully in my life.
My friend had heard of a street missionary that lived on the streets in major cities, witnessing to the homeless. His name was Russell. I never met him, but Betty and I began sending him extra offerings.
Then I heard a preacher preach on Luke 6:38. Give and it shall be given you. God will give to you in the same measure you give to Him. Then the preacher challenged us to prove God to see if He wouldn't hear from heaven and open the windows of heaven.
Now I was a young preacher. I had a very trusting wife. She followed me into whatever I felt God was leading me to do.
As the verse said, I wanted to put us in dire straits to see if God would give to us. My salary was $240 a month. I proposed to Betty that we give our average amount, like $25, to our church. Then I wanted to send Russell $100.
We were both terrified. Our rent was $100 a month. There would be no way to make it without God working a miracle. At the same time, we were so excited to see what God would do.
We told no one. We wanted to see if God would do something, and it would be so apparent that it was God that no one could deny it.
As things were getting tight, we arrived home and found an envelope clipped on the mailbox that was on our front porch. It was one of the bank envelopes that only left the face of the money show.
It was a $50 bill. Around the envelope was an anonymous note that said you have blessed many, and we want to be a blessing to you. We couldn't believe it.
We had made a sizeable sacrificial offering, and God was blessing us. About that time, a friend in college called me and asked me to preach a Bible study for him. I was excited. I thought this would be a great, big church, significant offering.
No way, I arrived, and there were only about five older women and the pastor there. I preached each night, but my hopes were dashed.
I loved preaching, so it wasn't so bad, but I had thought it was God answering our prayers. My wife is watching me to see if God does hear and answer these big prayers.
At the end of the week, I expected to get a $20 love offering, but instead, they gave me $100. That meant of the offering we had given of $100, God had already returned to us $150. I could hardly believe it.
God gave when we had no idea, thoughts, or plans. He was meeting our needs.
I was leaving that first church, which currently paid me $240 monthly. Still not full minimum wage after over two years of working there. The treasurer gave me my departing check for an entire month. I only served for two weeks.
I told him he had made a mistake, and he told me not to worry about it. He would take care of it. So now I had been overpaid by another $120. Now we were making money!
I arrived at the next church that started me at $400 a month. The treasurer there gave me a whole month's salary too. That meant that I had now received another $200.
So who is counting? We had invested $100 sacrificially, and God had given back $470. I learned one of my biggest lessons on giving. You can't out-give God.
Giving, tithing, missions, etc., are God things. They can't be calculated. We live for someone.
Too often, we turn money into something we earn that belongs to us. We act like we do God or the church a favor if we give. We refuse to tithe because we will not be legalistic, but then we refuse to give more than a tithe when never commanded.
Many of us tip God or give Him the leftover scraps like a dog, or today, you even treat your dog better than that. You would never give your dog the table scraps. He needs better than that but not your God. We treat God like a beggar. Since the church is begging, I will give.
Too many want to give God what is left over, what they don't need. They think they are giving to God and forget God gave them all they have.
So Betty and I learned early on. Giving to God is honoring God. Honoring God is what Christians want to do. Great giving is giving big honor. Giving is our way of recognizing that God gave us what we give back to Him.
I thank God for my parents, that taught me to tithe and give. I thank God for pastors that taught me that God would bless me if I honored Him with my money.
Since those early days, we have seen God do far more incredible and significant things than you could ever imagine.
I fear that most people do not learn Biblical principles of giving. By nature, all of us are selfish. It takes an act of grace to make us step out of ourselves and give to anyone. Most people are willing to give "only" if they can expect something "in return."
Those who give often fight and fuss over tithing on the gross or the net. It seems that most Christians want to see how much they can keep. They seem aggravated that anyone ought to honor God by giving. I challenge you to think on and study what the Word of God says about how to manage your money.
Biblically God created us. He owns us. God wants us and our money. When we give to Him, we only give back a part of what He has already given to us.
Betty and I have learned that God is good beyond anything you can think or imagine. Give, and it shall be given to you.
Get the whole story
The Call 2
"The bro zone!" Like a brother 4
A Giant Heart 5
The tractor ride 6
Never Really Dated! 7
Shocked & Surprised 8
Good News 9
Finding an acorn 10
Scared my dad! 11
Send that hillbilly hiking 12
Who's chasing who? 13
Betty meets my grandmother 14
Reckless Redneck 16
Honeymoon 17
Separated for the first time 18
We are going to make it 19
A Mother's Jealousy 22
My sister wanted to marry me 23
Holidays as a Married Couple 24
"Baby Fever" Hits 25
We held Willie B. at gunpoint till the cops arrived 28
God's Calling on our Lives 31
First Attempts at Soul Winning Evangelism 32
Proud Dad 33
Aprendiendo a Dar
Mis padres me enseñaron a honrar a Dios devolviéndole una parte de lo que Él me había dado desde que tengo memoria. Mis padres me dieron una propina/mesada a partir del 7º grado de 50 centavos a la semana.
Los padres de todos los demás les daban al menos una moneda de veinticinco centavos solo para poner en la ofrenda en la escuela dominical. Sabía dar cinco centavos como mi diezmo.
Sé que algunos no creen en el diezmo. Los que están en contra del diezmo tienen muchas razones para decir que no es para hoy o que es legalista. Yo nunca lo he visto de esa manera.
Para mí, tenía más sentido que cualquier otra cosa que pudiera imaginar. ¿Cómo reconoces a Dios y sabes que todo lo que tienes proviene de Él? ¿Cómo sigues viviendo por fe a medida que ganas más y más dinero?
Para mí, el diezmo siempre fue como "la dentición". Es donde empiezas. El pueblo de Dios comenzó a darle a Dios un décimo mucho antes de que se le ordenara hacerlo.
Sé que el diezmo luego se convirtió en un impuesto para los judíos. Sé que lo usaron como lo haríamos con el impuesto de nuestra entrada. Eso no tiene nada que ver conmigo.
Quiero honrar a Dios y darle las primicias de mi vida. Quiero que Él tenga la primera y mejor parte cuando obtenga algo. Desde mi billetera hasta mi calendario, debería ser obvio que pongo a Dios primero.
Siempre he pensado que una de las formas más significativas de mostrar amor era poner tu dinero donde está tu boca. Podemos dar y satisfacer necesidades. Hablar es barato. El dinero me cuesta parte de mi vida para dar.
Creo que el diez por ciento es demasiado barato para considerarlo como nuestro dar.
Bueno, volviendo a mi historia. Tenía una propina de 50 centavos. No quería dar cinco centavos cuando todos mis amigos ponían una moneda de veinticinco centavos en la canasta de la ofrenda, así que comencé a dar el 50%.
Cuando Betty y yo nos casamos, ninguno de los dos cuestionó que estaríamos dando. Siempre era al menos una décima parte.
Entonces Dios trajo verdaderos desafíos a mi vida. Quería servir a Dios. Tenía que saber que Él era grande y podía y respondería la oración. Tenía que saber que Él se mostraría poderosamente en mi vida.
Mi amigo había oído hablar de un misionero a las calles que vivía en las calles principales de las ciudades, testificando a las personas sin hogar. Su nombre era Russell. Nunca lo conocí, pero Betty y yo comenzamos a enviarle ofrendas adicionales.
Luego escuché a un predicador predicar sobre Lucas 6:38. Dad y se os dará. Dios te dará en la misma medida que tú le des. Entonces el predicador nos desafió a probar a Dios para ver si Él no escuchaba desde el cielo y abría las ventanas del cielo.
Ahora yo era un joven predicador. Yo tenía una esposa muy confiada. Ella me siguió a lo que yo sentía que Dios me estaba guiando a hacer.
Como decía el versículo, quería ponernos en una situación desesperada para ver si Dios nos daría. Mi salario era de $240 al mes. Le propuse a Betty que demos nuestra cantidad promedio, como $25, a nuestra iglesia. Luego quise enviarle $100 a Russell.
Ambos estábamos aterrorizados. Nuestro alquiler era de $100 al mes. No habría forma de lograrlo sin que Dios obrara un milagro. Al mismo tiempo, estábamos muy emocionados de ver lo que Dios haría.
No le dijimos a nadie. Queríamos ver si Dios haría algo, y sería tan evidente que era Dios que nadie podría negarlo.
A medida que las cosas se ponían difíciles, llegamos a casa y encontraríamos un sobre enganchado en el buzón que estaba en nuestro porche delantero. Era uno de los sobres bancarios que solo dejaba ver la cara del dinero.
Era un billete de $50. Alrededor del sobre había una nota anónima que decía: has bendecido a muchos y queremos ser una bendición para ti. No podíamos creerlo.
Habíamos hecho una ofrenda de sacrificio considerable y Dios nos estaba bendiciendo. Por ese tiempo, un amigo de la universidad me llamó y me pidió que predicara un estudio bíblico para él. Yo estaba emocionado. Pensé que esto sería grandioso, una iglesia grande, una ofrenda significativa.
Ni modo, llegué, y solo estaban unas cinco señoras mayores y el pastor. Prediqué todas las noches, pero mis esperanzas se desvanecieron.
Me encantaba predicar, así que no era tan malo, pero pensé que era Dios respondiendo nuestras oraciones. Mi esposa me está observando para ver si Dios escucha y contesta estas grandes oraciones.
Al final de la semana, esperaba recibir una ofrenda de amor de $20, pero en cambio, me dieron $100. Eso significaba que de la ofrenda que habíamos dado de $100, Dios ya nos había devuelto $150. Apenas podía creerlo.
Dios dio cuando no teníamos idea, pensamientos o planes. Él estaba satisfaciendo nuestras necesidades.
Estaba saliendo de esa primera iglesia, que actualmente me pagaba $240 mensuales. Todavía no era el sueldo mínimo completo después de más de dos años de trabajar allí. El tesorero me dio mi cheque de salida por un mes entero. Sólo serví durante dos semanas.
Le dije que se había equivocado y me dijo que no me preocupara. Él se encargaría de eso. Así que ahora me habían pagado en exceso otros $120. ¡Ahora estábamos ganando dinero!
Llegué a la próxima iglesia que me empezó pagando $ 400 al mes. El tesorero de allí también me dio el salario de un mes completo. Eso significaba que ya había recibido otros $200.
Entonces, ¿quién está contando? Habíamos invertido $100 con sacrificio y Dios nos había devuelto $470. Aprendí una de mis mayores lecciones sobre dar. No se puede dar más que Dios.
Dar, diezmar, misiones, etc., son cosas de Dios. No se pueden calcular. Vivimos para alguien.
Con demasiada frecuencia, convertimos el dinero en algo que ganamos y que nos pertenece. Actuamos como si le hiciéramos un favor a Dios o a la iglesia si damos. Nos negamos a diezmar porque no seremos legalistas, pero luego nos negamos a dar más del diezmo cuando nunca se nos ordenó.
Muchos de nosotros le damos propina a Dios o le damos las sobras como a un perro, o hoy, incluso tratas a tu perro mejor que eso. Nunca le darías a tu perro las sobras de la mesa. Necesita algo mejor que eso, pero no tu Dios. Tratamos a Dios como un mendigo. Ya que la iglesia está mendigando, yo daré.
Demasiados quieren darle a Dios lo que les sobra, lo que no necesitan. Piensan que le están dando a Dios y olvidan que Dios les dio todo lo que tienen.
Así que Betty y yo aprendimos desde el principio. Dar a Dios es honrar a Dios. Honrar a Dios es lo que los cristianos quieren hacer. Dar en grande es dar gran honor. Dar es nuestra forma de reconocer que Dios nos dio lo que le devolvemos.
Doy gracias a Dios por mis padres, que me enseñaron a diezmar y dar. Doy gracias a Dios por los pastores que me enseñaron que Dios me bendeciría si lo honraba con mi dinero.
Desde aquellos primeros días, hemos visto a Dios hacer cosas mucho más increíbles y significantes de lo que puedas imaginar.
