Hope you had a nice weekend? I can't believe it's December already. Woop Woop! It's nearly Christmas and it is also time where almost all the shops in England would be on sales. 26th December and 27th December are big sales day, I can't wait to shop. Would you be shopping as well? Or have you already done all your shopping?
Back to the post.
I have been pondering on helping people that are poor. How do you know someone that is genuine and someone that is not genuine? Recently, I was on my way to the Bank, a lady who appeared to be well- dressed, came out of her car and she stated that her car fuel had finished and she left her bank card/purse at home and she needed a minimum of £5 to fuel her car. I explained to her that I had no cash. I felt I needed to be compassionate, I told her to walk to the cash machine with me. On our way to the cash machine, a lady walked towards us and shouted "Don't give her money, she is a thief, she just asked me to give her money, I am going to ring the Police to report her". Before the lady finished her sentence, the woman that asked me for money ran to her car and drove off.
I was gobsmacked, I couldn't believe that I was going to be defrauded. Given that the lady's appearance did not depict someone that was poor, I had no reason to question her motivation for begging for money, I believed her request.
My question is, how do we ensure that we do not get deceived and waste our money on wrong soils?
Below are a few biblical scriptures about giving:
1) Some people spend money freely and still grow richer. Others are cautious, and yet they grow poorer (Proverbs 11:24).
2) Be generous and you will be prosperous. Help others, and you will be helped (Proverbs 11:25).
3) Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will repay the individual (Proverbs 19:7).
4) Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices.
Or should I have given the woman the money for her petrol? Must we be led by God before we give?
Can wisdom be applied to giving? Does God require us to give to all the poor?
Include your voice below.
Please share this post.
- Myss Lafunky
1) Some people spend money freely and still grow richer. Others are cautious, and yet they grow poorer (Proverbs 11:24).
2) Be generous and you will be prosperous. Help others, and you will be helped (Proverbs 11:25).
3) Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and the Lord will repay the individual (Proverbs 19:7).
4) Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices.
Or should I have given the woman the money for her petrol? Must we be led by God before we give?
Can wisdom be applied to giving? Does God require us to give to all the poor?
Include your voice below.
Please share this post.
- Myss Lafunky
I was once in a Bible Study and this topic was addressed. Most people were of the opinion that all giving had to be led so as not to sow on the wrong soil.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do have a little thing against that school of thought. In the new testament as well as the old testament, I haven't come across a passage that says we should only give when the Spirit leads however I know as Spirit-filled believers we should always be Spirit led. But if I see anyone in need, or there is any fundraising activity that would clearly be meeting the poor's need then I believe that we should sow in such grounds.
Remember the case of Cornelius, he wasn't even a believer yet, but his giving went up to God as a memorial.
People saying you must check the ground before sowing clearly shows that we are only giving because of the motive of receiving (maybe not in all cases).
I believe that if your money or gift shouldn't be going to someone at a particular time that is when you get a check in your spirit.
On the issue of knowing those that are genuinely poor, I would say we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us discern and be on the look out for opportunities to truly help those in need.
(Sorry for the long epistle)
Thank you Busola. Sorry for my late response. It is certainly not a long epistle. A lot to learn from your comment.
DeleteI agree that we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us discern and to know who is truly needs our help.
But in the case of someone using the money to feed their drug addiction, I still believe that we can ask God if we should give such individual money.
I'm aware that through helping others, we may entertain Angels (Hebrews 13:2).
I guess our giving should not be because we want to receive, rather because we want to share the love of God through giving and show what God would do..since we are God's ambassadors.
Thank you for your comment.
Busola, I was reading Open Heavens Devotional this morning by Pastor Enoch Adeboye. He made reference to being led before giving. He linked it to the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-8). He said if God says you should not give to a particular individual and you disobey thinking you know more than God, or you know how much the fellow is in need, you have acted in disobedience and lost both seed and harvest. If care is not taken, we may even get punished.
DeletePastor Adeboye said sowing a bad soil is a soil that God does not want you to sow into at that material time, no matter how logical or pressing the need is.
Finally, he said we must ask to be led of God before we sow into causes that are not clear to us.
My opinion.
ReplyDeleteDid the bible say we need to be led to give? Its says to give. If you want to pray, up to you. lets not play religion. I think the instruction is we should try and give when ever we are capable of doing it. Do we ask God to lead us whether we eat, when we want to dress, pay offering, pay tithes etc? The bible says something and we still want to wait for leading? you will wait for a while.
again, why do we have to now go and pray over giving someone a few pounds or naira. To me, that is playing religion.
People are on different levels of God and grouping every christian under the umbrella of be led to give is quite broad. Some christians dont pray or read their bible until its sunday, how do you then expect them to be led to give. That is just an excuse not to give, i think.
My school of thoughts is, if we have a personal relationship with God, then everything we do will be directed by him. You find yourself doing things without consciously thinking about it, as it becomes part of you. That is my definition of being led.
Your entire being has been given over to God, so everything you do is spirit led-including giving. How do i develop this, you pray, study God's word, pray, study God words....
dont get me wrong, if you have an heavy heart about a particular giving, then pray about it. or if this is like a large sum of money, which means a lot, then pray about it, or do you want to tie it to a blessing you are waiting for, then pray
fair enough some people may not be truthful, that is between them and God, you have done your part. You dont even know whether God has an agenda in mind (even though he know their hearts), lets not play God. just do the best you can. like i says, if you have an heavy heart about it, then pray
in conclusion,
1. be smart when the situation arises. use wisdom. e.g. if something does not add up and look suspicious like what happened to you Funke, then for that particular situation you walk away and dont give. also be careful of "users". keep your distance..... well except you feel God wants you to still give
2. always listen to God if/when he speaks to you-either to go ahead or not
3. for giving, there are in different levels: giving to beggers, family asking for help, church donations etc. They are different and so will be dealt differently.
4. I try not to lend people money, I give them money. My mum says if someone asks you to borrow, just give them what you are willing to let go off-very good advice
Thank you Ruth for your comment.
DeleteKey points from your post: To do our part when it comes to giving = To give.
To use wisdom (application of the knowledge that we have/through God's Word and experiences).
Your mum is so right. I don't borrow too neither do I lend out. The Bible says that WE SHOULD OWE NO MAN ANYTHING. My Pastor once said that, if you refuse to pay for someone you owe, it is a SIN..and sins make our prayers to be delayed/hindered and affect us from going to heaven.
Therefore, I avoid borrowing.
Ruth, I was reading Open Heavens Devotional this morning by Pastor Enoch Adeboye. He made reference to being led before giving. He linked it to the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-8). He said if God says you should not give to a particular individual and you disobey thinking you know more than God, or you know how much the fellow is in need, you have acted in disobedience and lost both seed and harvest. If care is not taken, we may even get punished.
DeletePastor Adeboye said sowing a bad soil is a soil that God does not want you to sow into at that material time, no matter how logical or pressing the need is.
Finally, he said we must ask to be led of God before we sow.
Those that are led by the Spirit of God are called the children of God.