10) Giving Gift - Benefactor 2%

Rom 12:8 "...he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence..."

The word for "gives" is metadidomi and means to give part of or to share. It refers to the ability to re-distribute the blessings of God. In relation to the passion of giving, it is the passion of needing to pass it on to others. Some of the uses of this word are the following.

• Luke 3:11 And he would answer and say to them, "Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise."
• Rom 1:11 I long to see you in order that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;
• Eph 4:28 Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have {something} to share with him who has need.
• 1Thes 2:8 Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.

The giver does not ask "How much can I give to the Lord?", but "How much do I need to live on?" They are not concerned about the daily bread because they already understand the concept of giving. They know that God has and always will take care of their needs. They would agree with David in Ps 37:25 "I have been young, and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his descendants begging bread." They have seen God distribute the blessings and understand deeply that God is the source of every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus (Eph 1:3). The giver subscribes to the concept discussed in Mal 3:10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows."

Good Examples

• The widow (Luke 21:1-4)
  ¹ And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. ² And He saw a certain poor widow putting in two small copper coins. ³ And He said, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all {of them;} ⁴ for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on."
• The Macedonians
  • 2 Cor 8:1-5 Now, brethren, we {wish to} make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, ² that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. ³ For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability {they gave} of their own accord, ⁴ begging us with much entreaty for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, ⁵ and {this,} not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.
  • 2 Cor 9:2 for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the Macedonians, {namely,} that Achaia has been prepared since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them.
  • Phil 4:14-16 Nevertheless, you have done well to share {with me} in my affliction. ¹⁵ And you yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; ¹⁶ for even in Thessalonica you sent {a gift} more than once for my needs.

Bad Examples

• Ananias and Sapphira
  Acts 5:1-2 But a certain man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, ² and kept back {some} of the price for himself, with his wife's full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles' feet.
• The Hypocrites
  Matt 6:2-4 "When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ³ "But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing ⁴ that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

Signs of Maturity

1. Generosity
   1. They give with liberality.
   2. They give with quality.
   3. They give with responsibility.
   4. They give with anonymity.
2. Charity
   1. They are attentive to the needs of others.
   2. They are prayerful to the needs of others.
   3. They are committed to the needs of others.
3. Reliability
   1. They tend to be lighthearted in crisis.
   2. They tend to be enduring in conflict.
   3. They tend to be dependable in poverty.

Signs of Immaturity

1. Judgmental
   1. They tend to be critical of lesser givers.
   2. They tend to be critical of church budgets.
   3. They tend to be critical of self.
2. Awareness
   1. They tend to be under studied.
   2. They tend to be under funded.
   3. They tend to be unprepared to receive.
3. Gullibility
   1. They may not do their research.
   2. They may give to unworthy causes.
   3. They may be viewed as softies.

Some ways to obtain joy with this gift

1. Organize and send surprise gifts to productive foreign missionaries
2. Support a preacher student through school
3. Sponsor a child
4. Start a food and/or clothing pantry
5. Secretly send an envelope of money to a needy brother or sister in Christ
6. Teach a class on the joys of giving
7. Be the presenter of benevolent works in the church