June 2022 | Give
“It is more blessed to give than to receive." – Jesus
A purpose is the reason for which something exists or is done. A purpose is a means to achieve an end. As Leaders, our purpose is to lead people in a growing relationship with Jesus. Therefore, we are not the purpose; the people we lead, they are the purpose. The problem for most leaders is that they want to be both the means and the end. But leadership is not about us it’s about the people God has called us to lead; we are the means and the people we lead are the end.
God has given everyone something; life itself is a gift. King David said that God gave some people more and others less, but that everything we have is a gift from God. After collecting the funds to build a temple for the Lord, King David also said: “But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us!” There is an often-overlooked principle throughout the Old and New Testament and that is that we don’t really give anything, we only pass along what God has placed in our hands. And more importantly, what God placed in our hands was placed there in order for us to benefit others. That we are not the purpose for the gift instead we are the means through which God wants to distribute the gift.
The Bible says that all gifts, natural and spiritual were given not for our benefit but rather to benefit others. The Bible teaches that every word that comes out of our mouths should benefit others. And perhaps the most powerful example of this is Jesus using all of his wisdom, power, and glory to benefit others by washing the feet of his disciples knowing full well that Judas would betray him, Peter would deny him and the rest of the disciples would abandon him. And as if that were not enough, hours later he voluntarily gave his life for them. Again, we are the means; we’re not the end. It’s not about receiving it’s about giving.
One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. PROVERBS 11:24 NIV
Effective leaders understand the power of giving; they understand that they will never have enough to satisfy every need. But they also understand that the more they give, the more God replenishes them so that they can continue giving. As leaders, our focus should never be on receiving, our focus should be on giving.
Two important areas to focus your giving on:
1. Time – Your talents and abilities are of no benefit to the body of Christ unless you purposefully separate time to use them to benefit others within the context of leading people in a growing relationship with Jesus. The problem with time is that you can’t recuperate lost or wasted time.
Teach us to realize how short our lives are. Then our hearts will become wise. – Proverbs 90:12 NIRV
2. Money - Your heart will always follow your money. Jesus said, “For where your money is, there your heart is”. The Bible teaches us that God is our provider and the Bible also teaches us that within his provision we receive bread to eat and seeds to plant to produce a great harvest of generosity.
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. – 2 Corinthians 9:10 NLT
King David, the leaders, and the people generously gave their money and time to build a temple for God. And God has called us, the present generation to generously give of our time and money to build the church of Jesus Christ. The temple is a physical structure; the church is a gathering of people. King David’s purpose was to build a temple for God, even though God does not dwell in man-made temples. Our purpose is to build the church of Jesus Christ, a gathering made up of men and women inside of whom God wants to dwell. If King David and the people were willing to be a means to an end to build a temple for God, shouldn’t we be at least as generous with our time and money and become a means through which we can build the church of Jesus Christ?