The Joy of Giving
 

Do any of you ever get happy while you are making out your tithes and offering checks? Let's talk about the joy of giving, shall we?

Not so much tithes, but I enjoy giving.

I put cash in my envelopes....Yes I do.I am always excited that God has
given me more than I ever expected.

I enjoy blessing the work of God and knowing that I am making the church able to move ahead.

I remember one Sunday afternoon:

My Elder was out of town, and his wife, Sis. __ approached me.

She said "I'd like to talk to you..."

I got nervous. I was thinking "What did I do that was soooo bad that she is going to talk to me, rather than wait for Elder __ to return!" Ha Ha

Anyway, so she says something along the lines that she has taken notice that I give faithfully. She told me that I have my whole heart in it... and she told me that she was proud of me. She said that she smiled every time she seen an envelope with my name on it. :)

That was a special moment for me. I almost cried. :)

No...but I was overjoyed when I paid $36 for a chocolate pie made by one of the sisters in the church as a fund raiser for our kids choir :hypercoffee

Buttering you up for when you're a major tithe payer...maybe you'll even get a position on the board!

No way!

I was thinking about this thread while I was driving through a rainstorm to Northville, so I'll share a few thoughts...

Do I get happy making out the offering/tithe envelope as the Scripture infers...a "cheerful," kneeslapping, overjoyed giver?!

Can't say that I've ever done that or even felt that way, however, that must not be construed as not willing and happy to give.

I return a tithe because, IMHO, that is right and what is due Him. I do not do it grudgingly, but with a grateful heart.

My giving is what I desire to do and give, and is not limited to my local church. Giving for Kingdom sake, at least for me, is done in many ways and is not limited to finance.

I consider that when I bestow a gift that uplifts a heart or speak a word of encouragement or extend a hand or open a door or speak peace in the midst of turmoil or quietly buy groceries for someone in need or let you go ahead of me in the grocery line or give someone a godly hug who needs a friend and on and on that this is giving to the Kingdom as well, and I do it with a glad heart.

It warms my spirit in ways that I cannot begin to express to hear a friend who has been going through a long and difficult trial laugh out loud...I mean lay her head back and really have a good laugh...it brings joy to my soul, and I feel this is giving as well.

When Destiny sent me a Thinking of You card, and said that she began the New Year with me visiting her in her thoughts and prayers, I cannot express how that blessed my spirit...she was giving and I gratefully received.

So, I'm being longwinded again, but do I love to give?! Absolutely!! I pray God blesses me with the riches of this world so that I may bless Mother A and those on the front lines, and give to the different men and women who are serving from pure hearts and motives...may God hear my prayer!!

I have given cheerfully.

I have given grudgingly.

I liked the first one better. :)

Amen!!

This old song dropped in my heart and it is so true...


You can't beat God giving no matter how you try
For just as sure as you are living and the Lord is in heaven on high
The more you give the more He gives to you
Just keep on giving because it's really true
That you can't beat God giving no matter how you try!!

LW wrote about the joy in giving...whew!! Rico, this thing is just stirring me today...:hanky

My initial thought when I read this was that I don't know that I'd shout a dance whenever I put my tithe and offering into the plate.

But on the other hand, I do know that I feel VERY sad whenever I don't give like I ought to. For 2 weeks in a row I completely forgot our checkbook at home. And I never carry my purse to church. When I realized I didn't have the check to drop in the offering, I was seriously bummed. Even I was surprised at that.

Just wondering, do you folks really believe the line in that song, "The more you give the more He gives to you"? It was commonly believed in the AG where I used to belong, too.

In my experience, it never worked that way. In fact, just the opposite happened when I stopped tithing. I cut back my giving from 10% of my gross pay (which I'd been doing since I was a kid) to even less that 10% of net. A few months later, I got the biggest raise, both in dollars and in percentage increase, I had ever gotten.

I think it was a coincidence, personally. But maybe, just maybe, it was a "reward" for starting to follow the NT principle of giving as I "purposeth" in my heart, not "grudgingly" or "of necessity" (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Now, I can honestly say that, when I give (whether to church or to a charity), I am a cheerful giver. As a tither, there were times it was cheerful, sure, but often not. Not exactly grudgingly, either, but usually it was my duty and obligation. "Of necessity".

Yes, Timmy, I do...!!

God has proven Himself time and time again, and in ways I cannot begin to describe.

You see, I feel that we miss it by thinking only in monetary terms. As I ineptly tried to say in an earlier post, the gift is not always money and neither is the reward.

Another point is this...one of the greatest spiritual minds that I know once said that we should not mistake a blessing as a sign of God's approval.

I am not saying the Almighty does not approve of you, but am merely making the point that we should not be deceived that simply because good things seem to happen, God is favoring us.

I am a tither, but will not pretend to dictate what someone should or shouldn't do re tithes and offerings...that is your business.:)

I have to believe it just because I've seen it happen over and over and over again. And not just when I give in the offering. Every single time that I've made a photo DVD for someone (I make funeral videos for our local funeral home) and not charged them, within a day or so, I've had 3 or 4 more to do that were paying jobs.

My mom had an interesting experience with this. We were never rich people. One time at Thanksgiving, someone brought her a turkey. Then my dad got a turkey from work. So she gave one of the turkey's to someone who needed one, leaving us with one for Thanksgiving. The next day, someone else gave her 2 turkeys! So she gave those both away. Within a couple of days, my cousin called. She worked for the food bank and they had an abundance of unclaimed boxes that year. She wondered if Mom would be willing to take some food. Mom, of course, said yes. (she had 5 kids to feed!). This cousin brought her out FIVE boxes of food - and each box included a turkey!!!! Mom said she was almost afraid to give away any of those turkeys. Every time she gave one away, the ones left seemed to multiply!!

Margie, this is priceless...exactly what I'm talking about.

I've purposed in my heart to give the 10%, so I really don't know what you are talking about. LOL

I started this thread because a few days ago, as I was making out my tithe check, I suddenly found myself grinning from ear to ear. I felt this sense of joy come over me that I can't say I have every felt while making out a tithe check and the scripture that talks about God loving a cheerful giver came to mind. I will admit that there have been times when I have paid my tithes with less than a cheerful heart. I have to say, however, that God has unfailingly blessed us when we tithe. I can not explain how it is that he does it, but I we always seem to do more with 90% than we can with 100%. For a time I paid 20% tithes and my income ended up tripling (this was several years ago). There is just something about tithing that God likes and honors. I would encourage anyone who has never tithed, for whatever reason, to give it a shot.

My tithe check is the first one I write each week, before I pay any bills. I LOVE to tithe! I would love to tithe $1,000 each week!!! God has given and given and given to us, and I love to give to Him. He always gives back so much more!

By the way, I gave away a washer and dryer a few years back to someone who needed it. Recently my son moved to an apartment and needed a set. I was able to go to God and ask for one, because I had sowed one. Guess what? Someone gave him a set that is only three years old!!! God is so good!

I shared with someone yesterday that a Church Mother used to say, "God is good, and He's better than that!!" Amen!! I am a firm believer, Sis. C, that when we take care of His business and see after His called and His people, He takes care of us!!

Hallelujah for answering your need!!:clap

Don'tcha just love it when God does His thang?!?! :D

Thought about you this morning in church, Rico. There's a lady who's been renewed recently and she was JOYFULLY bringing her offering. She was dancing around, took out her wallet and proceeded to dump all her change straight out of her purse into the offering plate LOL then she started dancing another jig. Great to watch.

I give cheerfully, though I often wish I could give more.

I remember one man saying that when Pentecostals take an offering, they should have the congregation give a wave offering immediately following so folks can wave goodbye to their money.


HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!