Why I don’t Give to God….

I don’t give tithes and offerings because I might get a 100 fold return like Isaac did in the Old Testament during a double famine as outlined in Gen 26 although I certainly believe in the 100 fold return and have on occasion received it. 

I don’t give tithes and offerings because God promises and assures me in Deuteronomy that He gives us power to get wealth, although I have accessed and seen that power demonstrated many times in my life, and I am grateful for it.

I don’t give of my time, money, resources, gifts and other areas simply because Psalm 112:1 says that I am blessed because I fear God and take delight in His commandments.  This in turn releases the receiving of wealth and riches in my house because verse 3 gives me that incredible blessing in response to radical obedience to the Lord, even though I have indeed been blessed so many times I cannot count them.

I don’t give offerings to the poor because Proverbs says that when I give to the poor I make a loan to God, and then God repays the loan, although I have seen this verse come alive many times when giving to those poorer than me and in need.

I don’t give tithes and offerings because of the great and wonderful promises outlined in Malachi chapter 3 in which God extends amazing results to those who trust  Him in this area, even though I have seen these scriptures to be true over and over in my life since I started tithing at age 15.

I don’t give money to the Kingdom of God placing Him first in everything, because Matthew 6:33 promises me that as I do everything else I am seeking will be added unto me, even though I have seen and experienced the repeated faithfulness of God in this area.

I don’t give financial resources because Corinthians says that if we give abundantly, we will receive in abundance, although I know this to be true first hand.

I don’t give money and other personal resources because God says he loves a cheerful giver, even though I absolutely love to give and consider myself a cheerful giver.

I am not consistently giving to God and trusting in Him to provide such as what Philippians 4:19 says about His ability to provide for all of my needs according to His riches in Jesus, which will never fail or run out.   And trust me when I say, I have often experienced these blessings and amazing results from God.

I am not a giver into the Kingdom of God because Luke 6:38 gives me a one word command to “Give” with a long list of promises behind that stating that as I give, that it shall be given back to me pressed down shaken together and running over, even though God has done that for me countless numbers of times.

I am not a contributor to offerings at church and for other ministries when prompted because Jesus explained the parable of the sower and said that we have to understand this parable in order to understand all of the rest of them, and so it is wonderful to have access to this wisdom and knowledge from God through this parable and biblical truth, but that is not why I give.

I don’t give to the Kingdom because God promises to be Jehovah Jireh, my provider, and I believe that and have experienced it every day of my life since making a commitment to Him back in 1972.

I don’t give generously simply because God desires that I may prosper and be in health even as my soul prospers, and I know what it is like when my soul is prospering and the outcome of that endeavor releases His favor in my life.

And while I do give according to John 5:19 when I see the Father specifically doing that and prompting me to give, just as Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing, it is not my primary influence.  I  sincerely appreciate and value that verse, but the motivation to give is not only due to that verse being a strong reality in my life, as there is yet another reason.  (and yes this is a conviction of mine demonstrated in my first book)  So I am motivated, influenced, challenged and convicted, yet not responding solely for this Heavenly initiative.

I don’t even give according to the theme verse of my second book about yielding where in James 3:17 God tells us that the wisdom from above is first willing to yield.  This then helped and broadened my understanding that the word yield is also a farming term used to describe the size of a crop.  So when we yield to Him, He brings a Yield back to us.  And yes, I have definitely experienced this many times. 

And I will restate again, even though I believe in this so much I wrote and published a book about this yielding theme, it definitely is not the primary rationale, fundamental belief, basic tenet, underlying principal, chief explanation or foundational reason I give.

So you might ask…

Why do I give?

What motivates and influences me to give and be sold out to God?  What really is the foundational reason?

1 Peter 2 specifically tells us who the main cornerstone is in the foundation and so that gives you a clue.  His name is Jesus.

So I give…

simply because…

I love the cornerstone.

I love Jesus!