Skip to main content

Giving or Keeping?

            A week ago, a friend of mine who lives and works in North Central Regina came to our church to talk about the needs that he sees every day.  It was interesting and sparked a lot of discussion about poverty and what we could do to help change things.
            Two days later, my mailbox was flooded with “Black Friday” ads and sales on hundreds of things that I don’t really need.  As I write this it is “Cyber Monday” (the online equivalent of “Black Friday”) and there are even more deals to be found.
            So what do you do?  I mean, on one hand there are people all over the place who are barely scraping by and on the other hand I am looking at a new welder and thinking “I really need that!”   How much should I give away and how much should I keep?  Where does my responsibility to look after myself cross the line and become “greed”?   Questions like that keep coming and there are no easy answers (at least none that are helpful).
            In 1 Timothy chapter 6:3-19, we find some guidelines about how to handle money.   In summary form, here is what Timothy is told to teach:  (1) Do not obsess over money or pay too much attention to it.  Remember, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (verse 10).  (2)  If you have lots, do not be arrogant and think that you are better than others.  Money is not God’s scorecard.  (3) Do not let money make you feel secure.  It is totally unstable.  Your only security is in God.  (4) Do good deeds and be “rich in good works”.  (5) Be generous and ready to share.  (6) Be responsible here, but think more about eternity. Live in such a way as to store up “treasures in heaven”.
            What does all that mean for you?  I don’t know!  Obviously, though, the goal is to find a middle ground between being completely irresponsible and completely greedy. However, since I think our default is to look after ourselves first, let me end with a story. 
            A friend of mine gave a large sum of money to a lady who needed it.  He had bills to pay, but she needed it more.  That was 25 years ago.  He told me the other day, “I have never once regretted giving her that money!”  Generosity never goes unrewarded.  “Your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6).
            I don’t have any easy answers, but I think the discussion is worth having anyway, because, in the end, we will not be asked, “What did you have?”  Instead we will be asked, “What did you do with it?”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dark and Light

            When you look out at the world, what do you see?             Some see nothing but trouble and pain.   They point to things like poverty, crime, problems with drugs and alcohol and marriage break-ups and say that the world is full of sadness and sorrow.   Watch the news for even a half hour and you will get the idea that the world is a dark place.             Others see nothing but good.   They appreciate generous people in their community.   They think about their friends and neighbours and smile.   They marvel at the beauty of sunrises and stars at night.   To them, the world is a bright and wonderful place.             You may be surprised that the Bible supports both of these world views.   On one hand it says things like, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the
1 comment
Read more

New Article: Five Words to Improve Your Relationships

                 In the late 1800s, it was common for railway companies to plant formal gardens beside their stations.   These gardens were filled with trees, shrubs, flowers, and fruit trees.   Sometimes they also featured a kitchen garden growing lettuce, carrots, corn, and potatoes.   Estevan’s Canadian Pacific Railway Garden was once located where Mid-City Plumbing and Heating is today.                The purpose of these gardens was to show what the land could produce.   After hours and sometimes days of riding across the featureless prairies, the railways wanted to show settlers the potential of their new home.   The gardens showed what was possible and they encouraged the settlers to transform their own land and discover its potential too.                Today’s verse acts similarly, in that it challenges us to find the potential in
Post a Comment
Read more

Forgetting What Is Behind

                   Generalizations are helpful because they show a pattern that is normally true. However, they are also dangerous because they ignore the exceptions to the rule.                  Here is my generalization:   It is a quality of the strong to be able to forget the past and move on.   The apostle Paul summarizes this idea when he states, “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God had called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). Too often, we trip over things that are behind us.   We remember and nurse old hurts.   We rehearse mistakes that no one else recalls.   In doing so, we pull the past into the present and allow it to dictate how we feel right now.   In these cases, we would be better off “forgett
Post a Comment
Read more