Continuing on the journey of putting God first and handling our finances, God’s way, we need to remember that will provide us with resources to carry out His vision and mission. In order to grow His kingdom, he will provide the resources to His chosen ones. Remember, to be a resource, you need to be on a mission.
We don’t have to give to God, we get to give to Him. Giving is our response of worship to Him for what He has and is doing in our lives.
The system of the kingdom
If you learn the system and how it functions and utilise it, you will prosper. Living generously is an integral part of our worship to God. You cannot serve both God and mammon because both kingdoms have a system. If you learn the system and how it functions and utilise it, you will prosper. When you decrease your giving and serving, it shows the misalignment of your relationship with God.
5 systems of generosity of the kingdom
- Returning – tithe
Remember that our tithe is not ours, it is the Lord’s. The tithe is Holy set apart, sacred. Holy things are not to be touched – they are to be revered. The purpose of the tithe is for us to keep God at the center of our lives. Understanding the system of God’s economy we can overcome the limitations of lack. Tithing alone will not cause us to prosper. Tithing creates an environment for growth.
And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord.
Leviticus 27:30 AMPC
- Sowing – offering
Sowing should be regular, purposeful, and proportional. You should be sowing what you want a harvest of.
The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:12 NLT
On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once.
1 Corinthians 16: 2 NLT
- Giving – to the needy
Giving with no desire to receive in turn. We should not want to give because of what we might get from it—like others thinking more highly of us or paying us compliments, or to receive some special treatment because of our giving.
“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
Matthew 6:1-4 NKJV
- Lending
If you loan your fellow Israelites money or food or anything else, don’t make them pay back more than you loaned them.
Deuteronomy 23:19 NCV
When you are extending a helping hand when needed, set the terms of the agreement – do not be an enabler of poor stewardship.
- Working
Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich.
Proverbs 10:4 NLT
We need to understand the value of our labor for God’s purpose. It’s all about Him. He is our source.
Some food for thought: ask yourself, ‘Is everything you have all yours to do with it as you please?’ or, ‘Is it all God’s to do with what He pleases?’
