Gifts, Giving, and the Giver - A Monthly Message form the Major - January 2008

“…Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)

Many of us have heard these words, or something similar, from the time we were small children as our parents sought to teach us the benefits of giving to others. Somehow in my childish, unregenerate heart and brain, this did not make good sense. Perhaps you are still struggling with these concepts in your own life or in how to make them actually sink into the heart and mind of your son. Let me look at three aspects of giving and, in the process, share with you out of what God is teaching me. This is not a treatise on giving but rather an exhorter’s look at making giving practical. Also, while I will focus in this message on tangible gifts, gifts of service and time are also of high value!

First let’s look the gifts themselves. God’s only guidance in this area, which I am aware of, is to bring the first-fruits of what we produce to Him. A husbandman was to sacrifice the first animal to open the womb to God. A farmer was to give the first-fruit from the harvest, and likewise, those in the financial services industries, the first fruit of their transactions or money. The tithe in Old Testament times was to be paid in money or in items which the priests could use in their service for God. So the actual gift itself was to be the fruit of their hands and was to be given to meet the specific needs of the one to whom the gift is given.

Next, let’s look at the giving process. The only biblical direction here is to do a heart check on why I am giving in the first place. If I am giving to receive the praise of men, then I am giving for the wrong reasons and will suffer the same fate as Ananias and his wife Sapphira, or even Ghazi, Elisha’s servant. If I give to meet the needs of, or to benefit, another in a positive way, without a desire for anything in return, then I am giving with proper motives. Gifts are either given directly to the recipient or given anonymously. In order to guard against receiving the praise of men, some will choose anonymity, but this is really a personal choice I must make based upon the condition of my heart.

Last, and perhaps the hardest, is the benefit to the giver. Giving produces blessing. Paul said that he desired the blessing that would come from giving for those who gave to meet his needs. I don’t mean this in a prosperity gospel sense that if I give to God then God must give back to me more than I gave to others in material wealth. Rather, I believe that these blessings in my life are the joy of seeing how a gift I gave has benefited the one who received it. Sometimes God has returned even more than I have given away to others. Similarly, when I give, I see God extend the life of the possessions I already own, by rebuking the destroyer, so that they last far longer than normal. It is these blessings of God that motivate me to give to others.

So what does giving look like? Let me share with you several examples from ALERT Cadets:

• On the initiative of a Cadet First Class, his unit organized a campaign to gather recyclables for which they for a $56 payment. The unit then presented this to me at their awards banquet. The gift will pay the fee for a young man whose family does not have the finances to attend an ALERT Cadet Challenge this coming summer. This gift shows creativity.
• This morning I opened an envelope with $250 and a note from an ALERT Cadet son. “Enclosed is a small gift in thank you for all the training and encouragement I have received from the ALERT Cadet program. Use it for whatever pressing needs there are in the organization. May the Lord bless you for your faithfulness in serving Him.” This gift represents a huge sacrifice for this young man!
• For the past several years, I receive a $90 check each month from a family who has taken ALERT Cadets on as a project. They desire that the money be used to provide scholarships for young men who want to attend our camps, but are unable to because of financial need in their family. To date the consistent gifts of this ALERT Cadet family have sent five fathers and their sons to camps.
• At Christmas I opened an envelope from the ALERT Cadet captains. The first note simply said, “…in recognition of your tireless and unpaid years of service, we in ALERT Cadets worldwide wanted to bless you with some of the monies to purchase a new (to-us) van…” With the notes were checks, literally from all around the world, which totaled many thousands of dollars for us to replace our nine-year old, 180,000-mile van. This gift was certainly “above and beyond” anything we could have imagined. We are truly grateful for the generosity of each one’s gift!

I am not asking you to give to the ALERT Cadet program. I am however, encouraging you to take some time alone with God this week to evaluate how God wants you to give of the time, material possessions, and financial resources with which he has blessed you. I urge you to consider the creativity, sacrifice, consistency, and “above and beyond” nature exemplified by these monetary gifts I just outlined.

Giving for me is really a motive and ownership heart check. Every time I teach the “Crown Financial Principles” Bible study, I am again reminded that God indeed owns everything and that I am just a steward. If I give for the praise of men, then I have received my reward, and I will receive no other blessing. For me, I want to be a steward and not an owner of what is entrusted to me. I want to hear the words from my Master, “…well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master.”

May God give you great insight, wisdom, and joy in your giving.

Humbly,

Roger D. Farr

ALERT Cadet Commanding Officer