“Pastor, I really want to be a giver. But currently, I give only when I have enough. Is that okay?”

Sure! That’s okay, but that’s not exactly how it works in this kingdom. Let me show you a scripture:

2 Corinthians 8:
1 Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia
2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves

Notice that the church in Macedonia was so willing that they gave out of their deep poverty and beyond their ability. They were extremely poor, yet their impoverished state didn’t affect their giving. They were even begging the apostle to accept their gift.

That is a model that every believer should follow. Do not only give when you have enough, give your best all the time. It’s really not about what you give, but about giving your best at every opportunity to give. While your best can be something really big, another person’s best may be something almost insignificant as a penny. The story of that widow in Mark chapter 12 explains this better. Let’s read from scriptures:

Mark 12:
41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury
44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

Just look at that! What that widow gave was almost insignificant when compared to what others gave, yet Jesus concluded that the widow gave more compared to the others. This validates the fact that God isn’t after the volume of what you give, but the position of your heart when it’s time to give. Do you say you don’t have enough or do you give from what is not enough?

I’ve realized that most people who claim they don’t have what to give or they don’t have enough to give from don’t consider giving a priority, they think self first. That’s not how it works in the kingdom; you have to give God first, while you consider yourself next. This is also why the tithe of many Christians don’t produce result, they give their tithe after they’ve made several expenses. The tithe is the first ten percent, not any ten percent. The purpose of giving God first is to honour God with the income you received. But the moment you violate that order, there’s no more honour to give, even if you eventually pay the tithe.

Give your best all the time, whether all you have is one dollar or even one million dollars, give your best all the time. That’s God’s concept of giving. The widow of Zarephath was about to prepare her last meal to eat with her child and then prepare to die due to the famine, and while you’d think that the prophet would just prophesy that food should appear, he still subjected her to the principle of giving. She could either eat the insufficient meal and die with her child or share the insufficient meal with the prophet and still live. What a mystery!

Don’t ever wait till you have enough before you give, because you may never have enough to give. And if you don’t give, you would not receive. No matter how wretched you may consider yourself, there’s someone out there who needs something you have – if you’d be willing to share. You may not know this until you position your heart to give. That’s right! Someone needs that worn-out shoes that you think can never be used again. Someone needs that torn cloth even after you have used it for a rag. Someone needs that soup you thought was sour and could never be consumed. Believe me, you’d always think you have nothing to give until you position your heart to always give.

I once gave out really faded clothes. When I saw the person still wearing them after a few months, I had to give the person new sets of clothes and begged him never to wear the faded one again. This wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t give the first time. The fact that he was still wearing that cloth meant that he valued the clothes.

Like the widow of Zarephath, if you still have what to eat, then you have what to give. Give from what you have to eat.

I hope this has brought enlightenment to someone.

Remain ever blessed, in Jesus precious name!

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