The Bible on Willingness to Give it All

We Must Withhold Nothing from the God Who Gives Everything

• Luke 14:33 — “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
• 2 Corinthians 8:1-3, 9 — “And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability ... For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
• Mark 1:16-18 — “As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.”
• Acts 4:32 — “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.”
• Matthew 10:38-39 — “... [A]nd anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
• 1 John 3:16-19 — “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence ...”
• 2 Corinthians 9:6-9 — “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: ‘He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’ ” [quoting Psalms 112:9]
• Luke 6:38 — “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
• Mark 12:43-44 — “Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.’ ”

*The above was originally listed on GenerousGiving.org. (I think this list follows the outline traced through my favorite little book on giving.) All verse are NIV, copyrighted by IBS, used by permission of Zondervan.

The Bible on Rising Standard of Liv(Giv)ing

I have heard of people who set an income level, and said "anything past this point, I will give away all the increase." ~Joshua

God Prospers Us Not to Raise Our Standard of Living, but Our Standard of Giving

• 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 — “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
• Luke 3:8a, 10-11 — “ ‘Produce fruit in keeping with repentance ...’ ... ‘What should we do then?’ the crowd asked. John answered, ‘The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.’ ”
• Acts 20:35b — “[T]he Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
• 2 Corinthians 8:7, 13-14 — “But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. ... Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality ...”
• Acts 4:32, 34-35 — “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.”
• James 2:14-17 — “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

*The above was originally listed on GenerousGiving.org. (I think this list follows the outline traced through my favorite little book on giving.) All verse are NIV, copyrighted by IBS, used by permission of Zondervan.

Which Came First: the Checkbook or the Affections?

Our Hearts Follow Our Money

• Matthew 6:19-21 — “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” [cf. Luke 12:34]
• Matthew 6:24 — “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” [cf. Luke 16:13]
• Deuteronomy 17:16-17 — “The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, ‘You are not to go back that way again.’ He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.” (cf. 1 Kings 10:14-11:13)
• Ecclesiastes 5:12 — “The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.”
• Matthew 6:1-4 — “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 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 men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
• Proverbs 18:10-11 — “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall.”

The Bible on Wealth

Wealth Is Fleeting; Accumulation Is Dangerous

• Proverbs 30:8-9 — “Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”
• Luke 6:24 — “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.”
• Ecclesiastes 5:10-15 — “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them? The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep. I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when he has a son there is nothing left for him. Naked a man comes from his mother's womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand.”
• Mark 10:25 — “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
• Proverbs 23:4-5 — “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.”
• 1 Timothy 6:9-10 — “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
• Luke 16:25 — “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.’ ”
• Deuteronomy 6:10-12 — “When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

*The above was listed on GenerousGiving.org. (I think this list follows the outline traced through my favorite little book on giving.) All verse are NIV, copyrighted by IBS, used by permission of Zondervan.

Bible Verses - God is Generous

I might have many things to say about giving and leading a life focused on generosity. But among all that I might say, the things of greatest and lasting value are best said by the One who (hopefully) informs me on the topic...

God Is Exceedingly Generous

• John 3:16 — “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
• Romans 8:32-33 — “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
• 2 Corinthians 8:9 — “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
• Matthew 7:11 — “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
• 1 Timothy 6:17c — “... God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”

*The above was listed on GenerousGiving.org. (I think this list follows the outline traced through my favorite little book on giving.) All verse are NIV, copyrighted by IBS, used by permission of Zondervan.

Bible Verses - God's Ownership

*For the source of this list, see the bottom of this post.

(I think this list follows the outline traced through my favorite little book on giving.)

 

God Owns Everything; We Are His Managers

• Psalms 24:1 — “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”
• Leviticus 25:23 — “The land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.”
• Haggai 2:8 — “ ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 — “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”
• Deuteronomy 8:18 — “Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.”
• Romans 11:36a — “For from him and through him and to him are all things ...”
• 1 Corinthians 4:2 — “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”
• Matthew 25:21 — “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ ”

 

*One of my favorite Web sites is GenerousGiving.org.  There, while searching for articles to cite for an essay I'm writing, I found a great list of Bible verses.  Not sure that they will keep this list up or move the page, and for my own reference, I decided to paste the entire list into several posts, my topic heading.  All verse are NIV, copyrighted by IBS, used by permission of Zondervan.

A Comment by Jesus on Giving

Good reminder as we head into this season:

In all things^(A) I have shown you that^(B) by working hard in this way we must^(C)(D) remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, help the weak and 'It is more blessed^(E) to give than to receive.' ~ Acts 20:35 (ESV)

I also like the way the paraphrase, "The Message" renders it:

I've never, as you so well know, had any taste for wealth or fashion. With these bare hands I took care of my own basic needs and those who worked with me. In everything I've done, I have demonstrated to you how necessary it is to work on behalf of the weak and not exploit them. You'll not likely go wrong here if you keep remembering that our Master said, 'You're far happier giving than getting.'"

"Kingdom Come"

Many thoughtful Christians today, upon an assessment of the state of the church they see around them, correctly see that much of US church life falls far short of the kind of transformed, Christ-centered life that we followers of Jesus are supposed to display to each other and the world. It is true, I believe, that too much of Christianity today focuses on doctrine to the exclusion of a strong call to basic expression of right theology (things like serving the poor, taking care of orphans and widows) and of a life of self-denial in the pursuit of Christlikeness...

However I fear too many who make this correct assessment allow their reaction to the insight to go a very important step too far: by re-working their definition of "the Kingdom of God" in a way that de-emphasizes the future action Jesus Christ Himself will take in establishing this Kingdom at a definite point in the future.

When I read Isaiah 65:17 - 66:24, especially alongside Revelation 20 & 21, I get some very definite impressions:

• The Kingdom comes from God, not from the efforts of man
• It is a cataclysmic and revolutionary act, not a progressive manifestation

True, my own personal faith is a journey, and Christ's coming to become central and most high in my thinking and lord over my flesh is a progressive thing in its manifestation... but does that same progression apply to the coming Kingdom? I'm not sure, but I don't think so, based on what I read above.

Now I won't into pre-millenial vs. amillenial... nor the Emergent Church... mostly because I don't yet what I believe regarding those things... and also because I'm hungry, it is about dusk, and I want to walk the few blocks to the Inner Harbor (Baltimore).

P.S. I personally am falling short of how much thought, prayer and effort I put in to serving others. I'm glad for that reminder today.