The attitude of giving

 8 Oct 25

Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Life Application Study Bible Devotion


The attitude of giving

Our attitude when we give is more important than the amount we give. We don't have to be embarrassed if we can give only a small gift. God is concerned about how we give from the resources we have.


“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭9‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

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Reflections

Giving is one of the first few things I was told to do after being baptised. My fellow sisters in Christ made sure I understood that. 🤪


My initial reaction was, ok… I think I was supposed to give 10%? As that was what I heard the believers said. And I did hear some people grumbling about it as well. One of the fellow sisters shared with me a parable and told me why it’s 10% and I understood it as 10%. I didn’t ask whether it is before CPF or net pay, etc. I think it didn’t bother me that much because I’m just contributing to God what belongs to God in the first place.


Giving gave a new meaning when I read about the parable of the widow who gave two copper coins. Whereas people gave out of their abundance, she gave whatever she had left to live. That really challenged me when I asked myself that same question. Would I be willing to give whatever I have in the bank to survive till the next pay? I didn’t have to think long. The Lord helped me with it. 


He was asking me to give when I do not have much to begin with. People kind of think that I’m rich to keep giving but truth be told I give even when I don’t have enough. I’ve learnt along the way that giving is a form of trust in the Lord. We often recite the following after our offertory song. “All things come from You and it is of Your own do we give You”. So if You are giving to the Lord or His people what originally belongs to God, what we are giving does not even belonged to us! So why feel the pinch when it’s not even ours to begin with? The challenge then becomes, if He truly ask You to do something (in this case to give), would He not make sure we have enough? This is something that one needs to go through and experience for themselves and understand that all that we have does not belong to us. None of the things on this world belongs to us.


So then, be the cheerful giver. Happy to give and you will find that you will also be happy to receive it back from Him, one way or another.

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