by Mr. Francis D'Souza
Money is a matter of four functions, a medium, a measure, a standard, and a store. Money in today’s world is unquestionably the most essential need. All of us need a certain amount of money for normal living and for a little savings for future. Money can do anything. Money in a sense is life, because we spend all our lives getting it for the purpose of staying alive. Since money affects every area of our life in this world let us go through the Bible and see how we should regard, handle money, and check our attitude towards it.
We shall divide this teaching into three parts, namely:
- The right to possess money
- The way to regard money
- The way to give money
The right to possess money:
The needs and aspirations of many people remain unaccomplished because they do not have the money required. Eg: child’s marriage due to non-availability of money for the demands of dowry, a child cannot get an entrance to a MBBS degree because money is not available for the capitation fee, one cannot move into a decent housing because the kind of money that is required to make the ‘black’ and ‘white’ payment is not available. It is because of the above that people say “Money is the root of all evil” The scripture however says, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” 1Timothy 6:10.
Money cannot be evil because God owns all money and in the Bible money is seen in terms of silver, gold, cattle, property and other valuables.
- Haggai 2:8 “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of Hosts.”
- Psalms 50:10 “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.”
- Psalms 24:10 “The world and everything in it belongs to the Lord.”
God gives men the power to gain money.
- Deuteronomy 8:18a “But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God; for it is He who giveth the power to get wealth.”
God also gives the principles to gain wealth – work, save and planning. God gives us the money to meet our needs and also to test our stewardship.
He wants to know whether it is the money that controls us or we control the money. Consider the truth of the statement - money is a good servant but a bad master.
The way to regard money:
A lot of people say “If I had lakhs of Rupees I would have given a lot of it to the Lord.” No, they wouldn’t. The question is not what you would do with the lakhs you would have had, the question is what are you doing with the hundred in your pocket just now.
- The desire for money is never satisfied with money
- (Ecclesiastes 5:10a)
- The desire for money leads to more evil
- (1Timothy 6 : 9,10)
- The desire for money separates man from God (Matthew 6:24d)
- The desire for money causes us to forget God
- (Proverbs 30:8,9)
- The desire for money ultimately causes us to stop trusting God (Luke 12)
This brings us to the third and the most important part of this sharing, which is
The way to give money:
Money collected right through Old Testament was used for the following purposes:
1) Funding the National Government and its plans
2) Maintenance of the Levite (priestly) tribe.
3) Maintenance of the poor and needy
Lets look at this part of the teaching addressing the following questions:
Why must I give: Luke 6:38 shows that we must give because it is God’s command, because it is a way of receiving. It also tells us that we will receive pressed down, shaken together and overflowing. I personally have received great blessings from the Lord when I obeyed his command to give and I believe that God honoured by faith in his word. It must be said however, that receiving is not the only reason for giving.
How much must I give: This question comes back to us, as “How much do you want to receive?” The Bible talks about the following plans 10% (Abraham to Melchizedek, and the Law of Moses) 20% ( Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh) 50% (John the Baptist’s advice – He who has two shirts give one to him who has none) 100% (the lady who put in two copper coins commended by Jesus)
A story is told of a man who committed to give 10% of all that he earned and at one stage his giving rose to Rs.10000/- per month. The man felt the pain of giving away his “hard earned” money and asked to be absolved from his commitment. But his pastor said that the commitment cannot be changed but we can certainly ask the Lord to shrink the income so that the giving can return to
‘affordable’ levels. Give and it shall be given to you pressed down shaken together and overflowing,
Where do I give? If you are living in a family you contribute to the kitty so that the necessary purchases can be made. In like manner we need to contribute to the place where we get out spiritual nourishment from. In addition we can also contribute to the needy and the institutions that take care of them, the Bible colleges etc.
When must I give? Procrastination can rob us of our blessings. The Lord wants our first fruits. Also refer to 1Cor 16:2. A lady who had made a big contribution to the church had on her diary on the day she made the contribution, “quick, quick before the heart gets hard.”
How must I give?
Secretly: Let not your right hand know what your left hand doeth. Your father who sees it will reward you. Don’t publish you giving.
Smilingly: Don’t be legalistic but loving in your giving for God loves a cheerful giver
Sacrificially: Mother Theresa used to say “Give till it hurts”. God will not look at what we give but at what we keep back.
Systematically and regularly: Don’t be sporadic. Imagine if God were to send five years’ rain in a single year. Just as you receive your salary regularly you must give regularly and systematically.
Finally, all of God’s creation gives:
- God made the sun, the moon, the stars- they all give light
- God made the rivers- they give water
- God made the clouds-they give rain
- God made the seas- they give fish
- God made the ground- it gives crops
- God made the trees-they give fruits.
God made man - does He give?