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WHY WE GIVE

Should I be giving?
If you are a Christian, the answer is “yes”. Giving is a way of telling God that all you have and are belong to Him. (1 Chronicles 29:14-  Our prayer on receiving the offering). Your first responsibility is to support financially the particular church in which you worship and serve, but give also to other Christian agencies as God leads you.

Our  response in active giving

To describe our response and love we use the words “Christian Stewardship”. We do so because the word “steward” is used in the Bible to express the concept of responsibility for the use of material possessions and spiritual powers.
Christian Stewardship may therefore be defined as the response which we the Church, collectively and individually, are called to make to God for all that he has given us and done for us, above all in Jesus Christ.
Our response in Christian Stewardship is therefore active:
  • as we respond to God in praise and thanksgiving
  • as we look on the universe as God’s creation
  • as we treat the earth and its resources as God’s provision for the needs of all mankind
  • as we seek to consecrate our personal wealth to God
  • as we regard our lives, our powers and possessions, our money and material wealth as gifts from God to be enjoyed and used in his service
  • as we seek to be “Stewards of the Gospel” and to share in Christ’s mission to the world
  • Unless our money gift has cost us something, it is not really a thanksgiving but more like a tip. And one of the tensions in our discipleship lies in whether we live our life and give to God the odd crumb, or whether we give to God first, and then manage the rest. If the Christian disciple does the first, he will never be satisfied: If he does the second, he will always have enough.
Ask Yourself 

Is my/our giving:  
 
a priority? - assessed in relation to my/our income? Deut 26.2-3, 1 Corinthians 16.2, 2 Corinthians 8.5
 
Prayerful? - an act of worship and thanksgiving?       1 Chronicles 29. 10-14
 
Planned?                                                                        2 Corinthians 9.7
 
Proportionate     - a realistic proportion of my/our income? 1 Corinthians 16.2,  2 Corinthians 8.11-13
 
Sacrificial?       Luke 21.1-4,   2 Corinthians 8.2-4