God Is a Giver

Give to everyone who asks of you…love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great…For He is kind to the unthankful and the evil (Luke 6:30, 35 NKJV).

The message of Jesus’ words is “Give!” Give to those who ask of you. Give money to those who can’t pay you back. Give love to those who don’t deserve it. Give mercy to those who wrong you. Give the kind of treatment you would hope to receive from others. Give, give, give! Oh, and by the way when you do, your heavenly Father will make sure you get much more in return.

Do you see the subtle but important distinction in emphasis? When you give with what looks to the world like reckless abandon, you are following God’s example. He is kind to the unthankful and the evil (see v. 35) – that was you and me at one time. God extended ultimate kindness to us by sending His Son when we were as bad as any sinner could be.

God is a giver. And, yes, it’s true that when we give, God will give back to us, but that should not be our motive for giving. We should give for the pure joy of imitating our wonderful Father.

The Lord is concerned about our hearts. And a properly focused heart is more excited about the giving part than the receiving part.

In other words, God is saying, “When you give just to give, I’m going to reward you by giving back to you in much greater measure.” The reward comes because we have allowed God to do a work in our hearts in the area of giving – not in the area of getting.

An Old Testament glimpse of this truth is in Deuteronomy 15:7-15. There God gives a clear view of His heart for helping people. It is also more evidence that God looks at the heart attitude of the giver. He makes it a point to tell the Israelites not to let their hearts “be grieved” (v. 10) when they give. God has always loved a “cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7).

It’s not hard to understand why this is so. Aren’t you proud of your children when they are unselfish? Are you blessed when you have to bribe or threaten them to get them to be generous?

We’re pleased when our children help and prefer one another in love. And what is true for us as earthly parents is infinitely true for God.

Whether it is greed or gratitude, money and materials things will bring it out. If you are a parent, ask yourself this question: Which attitude am I most motivated to reward in my children – greed or gratitude? Obviously, every good parent wants to reward gratitude – and God is no different.

The issue is not the amount we give. The issue is the motive behind our giving.

Does God bless givers? Absolutely! But those promises of blessing are given not to entice us, but to free us from the fear and grief that keep so many believers from turning loose and giving.

Yes, when you give, “It will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom” (Luke 6:38).

God pours blessings on givers, and He does it, so they can continue to give even more to His kingdom – but it takes a heart transplant. When we come to the place where we give simply because we have an unselfish, liberal heart of gratitude toward God, we will be well on the road to a blessed life.