Motives for Giving

July, 2003

by: Jack Hughes

• Giving

After being in the ministry for a while, it is amazing to hear what some people say out of anger about their giving, “I have been giving to this church for 30 years and you are not going to…” Then there is the tirade about how they should get what they want because they have given to the church for years. But a comment like that reveals some wrong motives for giving. It is so important to have our motives for giving aligned with the Word of God so that our giving brings glory to God. In this article we will examine seven evil and godly motives for giving.

You Should Not Give With Evil Motives

First, you should not give to maintain control of others. Don't think of your giving as buying stocks in a corporation. A person who owns the majority of stocks in a corporation may have more say, but it doesn't work that way in the church. The church is owned by Christ. He gets all the say. And the Lord, who owns the church, says that qualified elders are to oversee how the Lord's money is to be spent.

Secondly, you should never give thinking that it will or should make the elders act in partiality towards you. This is not giving to the Lord but a bribe, a way to manipulate others to get what you want. All such giving is evil and unacceptable to God.

Thirdly, you should not give to be noticed by others, so they will give you praise or think well of you. This too is an evil motive for giving. It is not giving to the Lord but giving to self. It is a selfish way to promote yourself in the eyes of others.

Fourthly, you should not give just to get a break on your taxes. Some people are motivated to give because it will save them from having to pay more money to the government. They rationalize to themselves, “Well, I would rather give it to the church, than to the government.” While there is nothing wrong with using legal deductions for contributions to a non–profit organization, it should not be our motive to give. We should not treat God like he is the lesser of two evils — government or the Lord. We should be willing to give to the Lord even if there was no tax break.

Fifthly, you should never give under compulsion. Many pastors sin and cause their congregations to sin because they pressure them to give under compulsion. In some churches the Pastor, after laying a huge guilt trip on his people, will have each of them come forward in a line and walk by the offering plate so he can oversee their giving! This causes people to give under compulsion. Other pastors chide, scold, plead, cry, and beg their congregations to give. The result is that their congregations are manipulated into giving under compulsion, guilt, or coercion. God never wants us to give a single penny under compulsion. Any giving that is not done willingly, does not give glory to God.

Sixthly, you should never give for what you think you might get out of it. This is to give selfishly. It is like playing the slot machines with God. You put in some money, but you are really not giving to the Lord, you're hoping that you will strike the jack pot and

God will give you way more in return. Another form of this kind of selfish giving is seen among the “so called faith healers.” These charlatans often hint to their audience that God will heal those who are faithful givers. They strategically take an offering right before “healing time.” People, who are in pain, who are hurting, who are desperate to be healed, often give huge sums of money thinking that it will make God happier with them and increase their chances of being healed. The amazing thing is that many are taken advantage of by faith healers who are wolves in sheep's clothing. As we learn from Simon the magician in Acts 8:18-24, you can't buy a miracle or favor with God.

A Seventh evil motive for giving is giving out of convenience. Yes, this is evil, also. Many only give when it is convenient for them. They give out of their abundance only. As long as they have their bills paid, their nest egg funded, their hobby supplied, if they happen to have a few bucks in their pocket on Sunday morning, and it doesn't inconvenience them in any way, they might give something. But, if they have some unexpected expenses come their way, like a dentist bill, a car problem, vacation expenses, or if they want to spend a little extra money on clothes or a gadget or eating out, they don't give to the Lord because it would create an inconvenience in their life. This is to throw crumbs at God. It is to treat God as a last priority in your life. Giving out of convenience is evil because it fails to submit to Biblical motivations for giving. What are those motivations? Let's look at seven of them.

You Should Give With Godly Motives

First, it must be understood that God does not want you to give to the “church building.” God does not want you to give to the “local church” either. No, you are to “give to the Lord.” Oh, you may make a check out to the local church, or you may give to people in the church, or even support a building project that the church is engaged in, but any giving that gives glory to the Lord must be given “to the Lord, for the glory of God.” This must be your first and foremost motive for giving — you should want to see God glorified. Paul tells us in I Cor. 10:31, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”.

Secondly, you should give out of your love for others. We know that love is the greatest commandment and that all things must be done out of love for God and love for one's neighbor. Paul mentions this in II Cor. 8:7 where he says that they inspired the Corinthians to give out of love. Later in vs. 24 of that same chapter Paul encourages the Corinthians to give saying, “show them the proof of your love.” Love was to be one of the motives of their giving.

Thirdly, you should give sacrificially. This is seen all through the Scriptures starting in the Old Testament with the “sacrifices offered to the Lord.” People were asked to offer “sacrifices” to the Lord, not “conveniences.” Paul, speaking of the Macedonians' giving, says to the Corinthians in II Cor. 8:2-3, “that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord.” The Macedonian church was very poor, but they sacrificed to give to the Lord, even in their “deep poverty.” In vs. 7 Paul encourages the Corinthians to “abound” in their giving. In vs. 20 he describes their gift as “generous,” in 9:6 as a “bountiful gift,” in 9:13 he speaks of the “liberality of their contribution.” These phrases tell us that we should give sacrificially. As David said when purchasing the temple mount, “I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord which cost me nothing” (II Sam. 24:24).

Fourthly, you should give eagerly and with joy. Paul, in II Cor. 8:4 speaks of the Macedonians' eagerness to give. He says they were “begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in support of the saints.” In II Cor. 8:12,19; 9:2 Paul speaks of the Corinthians' “readiness.” In II Cor. 9:7 Paul tells us that “God loves a cheerful giver.” Speaking of the Corinthians in II Cor. 9:2, Paul mentions their “zeal” to give. God wants you to give with joy, eagerness, readiness, zeal, and cheerfulness.

Fifthly, you should plan to give faithfully and regularly as a first priority. We see in I Cor. 16:2 the Corinthians being asked to set aside money “on the first day of every week,” which would be Sunday. Paul asks the Corinthians in II Cor. 9:3 to be “prepared” for the offering to be given to the poor saints at Jerusalem. Giving is an act of

worship and we should plan to give. We should decide how much we are going to give, when we are going to give, and be faithful to do what we have planned to do. Obeying God should never be an accident or afterthought but should always be planned and intentional.

Sixthly, you should give anonymously. Jesus taught in Mt. 6:2-4, “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” We learn from Jesus that giving is to be anonymous, that is you are to give secretly, unto the Lord, never to be seen or noticed by men.

Finally, a seventh godly motive for giving should be to give out of a desire to obey God's Word. As we have seen from the Scriptures above, God wants us to be faithful givers. This would include our time, resources, common gifts, spiritual gifts, everything we have, we are to use for the glory of God. After all, what do we have that we did not receive from the Lord? Nothing! Everything we have has been given to us by God who owns everything and especially those who are His. If we have proper motives in our giving, God will be glorified and we will be blessed!