GIVING: THE PAIN AND THE GAIN

Many times, some of us feel we are probably doing God or the recipient a favor when we give. But first, we need to understand the meaning and purpose of giving. My dictionary says it is disposing of property, materials, money, love, time, counsel, and other things to meet a need. When we give, we shouldn’t expect to get anything in return, knowing that anyone who gives always receives back. Read Matthew 20:35. The Bible says it is more blessed to give than to receive. When we give, we do ourselves a big favor. Why? An opportunity to give is an opportunity to sow. Without sowing, there is no reaping or harvest. This takes me to our essence of living. The way we live is solely determined by the way we give. If you don’t agree with my last statement, take a look at the people in your environment, community, or society. Identify the givers and people who do not give, and then compare their lives. You will agree with me that "the way you live is a function of the way you give’’. Which simply means if you want to live well, give well. If you want to live big, give in a big way. If you have been giving and you are not living well, check two things; your motive and the ground which you have sown. Endeavor to sow on fertile ground! Like a good friend of mine said recently, if you are suffering, always check your offering. If things are tight for you, check your tithe. Now, let’s talk about giving to God. The God we give to is the giver of all we possess including our lives. So why do most of us find it difficult to give back to the giver when we need to? We endanger our lives by withholding what we are meant to give to God. Hardship and suffering come our way when we refuse to give God what He deserves. As a young man, I learned how to give from my parents and teachers in school. Every time I refused to give my offering or tithe to God, I suffered for it. Malachi 3:10 says we should bring our tithe into God’s house, so he can open the windows of heaven unto us and rebuke devourers for our sake. If we refuse to bring it, it simply means He will close the windows of Heaven unto us and devourers will have access to our lives which is dangerous. #NothingButTheTruth. One period I refused to pay my tithe, I paid dearly for it and it was painful. Come to think of it, what you earn can’t even be enough for you. So why not give out of it to have more than enough? You'll even enjoy good health, unmerited favor, blessings without sorrows, etc. The Bible says "But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you" Matthew 6:33. This means obey God’s instructions first and all the things you know you need, including the ones you don’t know you need, and the ones you don't deserve or ask for, will be given to you. God is moved by our obedience to instructions. Not our emotions after disobedience to His instructions. When we refuse to give God what He deserves and we see the repercussions, we end up crying to God thinking the tears will move Him. What moves God is our willingness to obey all His instructions, not just part. I would love to explain more about tithe. I think I will need to write another article or a second part of this write-up. The truth is for our good, pay your tithe and give your offering regularly to God with a joyful and cheerful heart. 2 Corinthians 9:7. According to my definition of giving, it’s not just about money, it is about meeting a need. We must give, so we can be blessed. Don’t get it twisted, we have been called to be blessed and not to be rich. Riches are a part of the blessing, not the blessing as a whole. God is not interested in our money or materials. He gave us all we have, which means He has more. But He wants us to obey the law of harvest, which says "A seed must be sown before you can reap or harvest”. Every opportunity to give is an opportunity to sow and be blessed. Help yourself by looking out for opportunities to give. So you can continuously increase, flourish, and be blessed. When it comes to giving to fellow human beings, we always complain that so many people get money from us through falsified means including those we trust. The truth is “Givers won’t stop flourishing and receivers will never stop lacking”. Those who receive through falsified means will never be satisfied and will always lack. Now, we must decide to give or help others to increase, remain blessed, and flourish always. "God blesses a vessel and not a container”. Why? The container only retains God’s blessing, not ready to bless or give others. God invested so much in us so that we can be a blessing. A vessel is ready to bless or give others at every opportunity. Let us bear this in mind; giving might be painful. Which means “when giving is painful, the harvest also becomes gainful”. A certain woman in 2 Kings 4:1-7 gave all she had to Elisha, a man of God. It is painful to give all you have to someone when you have no hope of getting another one. When we read through the story, we discover that after she gave painfully, the harvest was gainful. Something happened to me in 1999. I had some amount of money with me and I was so hungry. A lady asked me for the exact amount I had so she could eat. I told her I needed to check if I had that amount. The money was in my pocket and I was hungry too. You can imagine how painful this was. I got an instruction to give her, which I did. She was very happy and left. To my surprise, not up to 12 hours later, I had over 100 folds in return. You can see that if I had refused to give what I had, I wouldn't have been able to sow, talk more of harvesting, or be blessed, knowing that the cash I had wasn't enough for me. Like I said earlier, giving is about meeting needs. Some people around you need your smile, please give it. It will do a lot. Someone needs your time, counsel, or even material possessions. Don’t hesitate to give them when asked, or if you discover the need. Remember, you reap whatever you sow. If I need a phone, I will give a phone out. If I need money, I will give out money. I give out whatever I want to receive but in another proportion. The truth is you can determine what you give or sow, but you can never determine the harvest or what you reap. Ask farmers. In Matthew 14:17-21, if the young boy that had 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes had been greedy by withholding what he had, he would have missed the opportunity to be a vessel used to feed over 5,000 people. There were also 12 baskets of remnants. The boy knew what he gave, but didn't know how big the harvest would be. In conclusion, let’s do ourselves a favor by giving and not just receiving. The receiver’s hand will always be beneath to receive. While the giver’s hand will remain at the top to always have what to give. In all of this, remember “You reap what you sow, not where you sow”. Let’s give to God and fellow human beings. Make sure you are meeting a need everywhere you go or find yourself. Givers never lack! Kindly share this post with your friends on every social media platform you are on. AYODEJI ANIFOWOSE Twitter: @gfatherghusband Instagram: @gfather_ghusband, @ayodeji.anifowose Facebook: www.facebook.com/greatfathergreathusband, www.facebook.com/ayodeji.anifowose E-mail: ayollc.company@gmail.com www.ayodejianifowose.com