PERCENTAGE GIVING part 4

The series is almost to end. We are down to the last 2 parts and as the series is moving the exciting it becomes! I got most of the truths from Andy Stanley's talk about Consumption Assumption. Today (Sunday) we are going to talk about money. I titled the preaching MONEY MATTERS.Kinda odd huh? questions surface like. How can we talk about money in the church? Money is secular while the church is spiritual.Money is dirty while the church is divine. Money is the root of all evil while the church is holy.  At a glance, we can almost impossibly talk about money in the church. No connection. Except of course for some bills to be paid. Just that. Some pastors are even fearful and hesitant to preach about it. 

But if you go through the gospels, you will find out that Jesus talked more about money than He talked about salvation, heaven and hell clumped together. Amazing huh? Maybe Jesus was trying to surface something about money that we need to thoroughly understand. 

When I was still 7 years old, I stayed in my grandma's province till I got 10. Every Sunday we go to church. The venue for the adults is separated from the Kids, they call it Sunday School. One morning, as I trod the  half kilometer distance to church my one peso coin fell. Every Sunday, we (my cousin) are given two pesos, one for offering, one for merienda. My one peso got lost, I asked, "whose one peso is that? God's or mine? That thought kept on wrestling in my mind, as i cant make up who owns the lost one peso?

That led me to a breakthrough question as I looked back. I told myself, "well if God is the creator of heavens and earth and all that is within, my one peso wont matter to Him.right?" If that question is left wrongly answered I will have a life view that is, everything that comes my way is for my own consumption. Well, anyway God owns everything He doesnt need money in heaven.

That answer will lead most of us into two ditches of our financial system. Consuming and Hoarding. (andy stanley) We are either one or the other or both. We factor God out in our financial equation. Isn't it true for most of us, when we receive our salary what first comes to mind is the dress in the mall, the jeans, blouse or new beauty kit or gadget? We either consume it or hoard it or both. One similiraty of these two is that they are both self-centered. Consuming is "me" now. Hoarding is "me" future. And we'll fall into a "G" word sin-- GREED. Greed is the assumption that everything is for my own consumption. When you assume that everything  comes inside your pocket is yours, you have a sickness/sin called greed.  Whether you are poor or rich you are not exempted from greed.

Jesus says, in Matthew 6: 21. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. It is a principle. It is as real as the world is round, birds fly and gravity. Your heart always follow where your treasure is. We cant fully follow Jesus if our treasure is not surrendered to Him. Its either we serve Him or we serve our money.

In verse 24 the bible says, We cannot serve both God and Money. We must hate the one and love the other, devoted to the one or despise the other. Jesus understood that God's number one competition in our lives is money. As far as God is concerned, God's number one competitor for our time and attention is money. We dont think in those terms, we think of money as just a piece of paper with the face of a dead person we haven't even met. But money has a mysterious force of leading and directing our hearts. No wonder Jesus always talks about money and our proper approach towards it. Jesus is not interested in getting our money, He is interested of capturing our hearts. As a matter of fact, Jesus is not trying to get people's money, He is trying to keep people's money from them. That's why Jesus emphasize so much about money because He understood that it is God's number one competition in our lives.

Now, the answer to making God Lord over our finances is not necessarily praying a prayer, we already tried that but still are financially lost. Not even a financial decision. But it is a decision to fully submit ourselves to the will of God on how we handle our money. The key is a habit to practice.  That is the GSL. Give, Save and Live.

GSL, is a simple financial plan that will help us break the cycle of greed and mishandling our finances. 

GIVE 10% of your income as your tithe. Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what is due to Caesar, give to God what is due to God." When we put God at the top of our list we include God in our financial equation. Well, anyway when hard times come its God we call.

SAVE 10% of your income for rainy days. Solomon  shows us how wise the ants are, saving for the rainy days. One thing is sure, rainy days are coming, we better be prepared for it. You can use this for emergency purposes, so you wont resort to panic borrowing or loaning. Also to purchase worn out things and furnitures etc.

LIVE 80% of your income for "now" use and make sure to stick with it. We always spend a percentage of our income whether we are conscious or not. Why not decide in advance what percentage is that. You'll never get to overspend. Divide the 80% to the daily needs you have for a month or 15 days or a week.

Im no expert in this, I'm not a business man, I'm not handling large sum of money. But here's something I know about you and me, at one point in our lives we all struggle to keep up to our budget. Most often than not, we factor God out and use the tithe. If self comes in, greed comes in. Everytime we minus or use the tithe, we allow greed to creep in our hearts. Why not choose to honor God. This system is not perfect but maybe for some of us this is what we need to start with.

Verse  ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 

When we seek God first and put Him at the top of our list. Include Him in our financial equation and make Him Lord over our finances. All of what we desire  will just be added to us.

What's your percentage GIVING? 

Mine is 10%.