I MUST Be Crazy!

Giving to God is the SINGLE most important step in becoming debt free!

The ABSOLUTE first expenditure from any income should be a check made out to God!

Many would say, “Man, you are crazy! I’m in debt up to my eyeballs. I’m already spending more than I earn, that’s why I’m in debt. Now you want me to GIVE some of my money away?”

Yes, but it is not what ‘I’ want it is what God wants!

Do not just give some of your income away, give it to God!
Do not just give some of your money to God, give away the FIRST part of your income to God!

Make a covenant with God to ‘give’ the first part of all income to Him.

‘Giving’ and ‘Tithing’ are often used synonymously. There is a difference. Tithing is an Old Testament ‘Law’, and very legalistic. Christ established a ‘New Covenant’. He said in Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Consider what Matthew 5:17 says, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” Tithing is redefined AS giving. We are instructed to GIVE, Romans 15:27 says “...For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things.”

Giving is a duty. If one accepts that duty, and makes a covenant with God to give, what is the ‘practice’ of giving? How does one ‘give’?

The 'Principle and Practice' of giving is best defined in 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2, “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.”

Giving should be to the ministry, planned, proportional, personal, and FIRST.

TO THE MINISTRY (God): “...the collection for the saints...” The money is for those in service to the Gospel. 1 Corinthians 9:14 states, “Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.” It is a ‘good work’ to give to charities, like the local library, it is a duty to Give to the Ministry.

IS PLANNED: "...each week...lay something aside..." That is clear. Primary giving is a part of the budget process, not impulsive. There may be times when a person is ‘moved’ to give additionally, but that is secondary.

IS PROPORTIONAL: "storing up as he may prosper" and Acts 11:29 says, “Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea.” A person’s PLANNED giving should be proportional to their income.

IS PERSONAL: There is NO directive on how much that PROPORTION is. That is between an individual and God. The only thing we have is the guidelines of tithing from the Old Testament, falling back on Matthew 5:17. The ‘Law’ on tithing was 10% of all income. Giving 10% is not a rule it is a guideline. Prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit should determine giving. R.G. LeTourneau, wealthy industrialist and inventor (he owned more patents than anyone did since Thomas Edison), and the founder of Letourneau College, gave 90% of all his personal and business income.

FIRST:
Using guidelines from the Old Testament, tithe was from the first fruits of labor. Proverbs 3:9, “Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the first fruits of all your increase;” 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2 reinforces this with the phrase, “On the first day of the week...” Additionally, Matthew 6:20, 21 tell us, “...but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Giving to God is ‘laying up treasures in heaven’.
Answer these questions, “Who is first in my life?” Is it God or is it the bank (Luke 16:13)? “As a debt slave, to whom do I owe the greatest debt?” Wouldn’t that be Jesus Christ? HE paid the price for ALL our sins! How big a debt to HIM is that?

GIVING FIRST REINFORCES THAT GOD IS FIRST
[Then of course, there is the payback...it isn’t just about ‘treasure in heaven’]