The Discipline of Giving

Luke 21:1-4 New Living Translation (NLT)

21 While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. 2 Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins.3 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. 4 For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”

I would, but I’m broke...

I couldn’t even begin to count the amount of times these five words were my excuse for avoiding giving generously. 

Leaving a better tip when eating out, lending someone money, helping out when someone had some sort of need.

The “I would, but I’m broke” perspective didn’t even stay put in my finances, but crept into other areas of my life. For years my “giving,” was dependant on whether or not I felt I had enough to give; money, energy, advice, time, attention, etc… I would practically run and hide if even I thought someone was going to ask for help moving. I only gave if I was confident that I had enough for myself first. I only gave out of excess. 

The problem was, I always defined “excess” as “having more than whatever I currently had”. 

You see, I was in constant fear that I was not going to have enough money, time, energy, attention, etc… for myself. Not just for my needs, like food, and shelter, but also my wants. I couldn’t live without wifi, a new cell phone every two years, a netflix subscription, an infinite supply of sushi, and some pocket money. You know, just in case I stumbled upon something I would like to buy myself. 

I would conveniently convince myself that one, I didn’t have enough to be generous, and two, that the mature thing would be to take care of my responsibilities, my wants and my needs, before considering generosity toward anything or anyone else. 

The discipline of giving is the practice of giving generously (money, time, attention, energy, etc…) to remind ourselves that Jesus has already given us more than enough, and that He always will. 

Jesus calls to attention the widow’s giving in the passage above because she was practicing true giving. When we give only out of excess, like the rich in the same passage, it solidifies the lie that Jesus will not provide all of our needs. We have to wait until we have enough for ourselves, then we can give. If we give too soon or too much our needs will not be taken care of. 

Matthew 6:25-31 New Living Translation (NLT)

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’

Jesus taught His followers that God would always care for them. ALWAYS. As followers of Jesus, we too can rest fully in the provision of our Father. In this passage, Jesus tells us not to worry about our needs because our Good Father will take all of them (and then some). 

For myself, I began really learning this lesson back in 2014. At the time, I had just begun a new career as a barber and I was not making very much money. It was a good week if I made even $200. I was growing deeper in my love for Jesus and dedicated myself to time with Him in solitude and prayer. My prayer in that season was, “Father, please provide enough money for me to pay my bills.” Luckily, I was splitting an apartment with 5 people so my portion of rent and bills weren’t huge, but it was still more than I could afford as a new barber with little to no clientele. 

God spoke very clearly to me out of the passage in Matthew chapter 6 above. I sensed Him so clearly and gently telling me that if I would obey Him, He would take care of everything I could ever want or need. I was ecstatic, God was telling me that He would take care of me! My ecstasy changed quickly to confusion after He gave me my first “opportunity” to obey Him. 

$80

A week.

That was how much God asked me to give to my local Jesus community. I didn’t know how to respond. I was so surprised that I began immediately doubting that I had heard the voice of God. If I would take $80 out of each weeks earning I wouldn’t have enough for my bills let alone food and gas for my car. I wasn’t even making $200 a week consistently!

I’m not sure how, but somehow I was able to muster up faith and obey Him. What else could I do? I wanted to see if I heard God correctly and I wanted to be able to say that I did everything to be faithful to Him. If it failed miserably, I would get another job and work hard to catch up on my bills or move back in with my parents. Even at the risk of being wrong, I needed to know if God was speaking to me. 

I bet you can guess what happened, right? Yup, my faithful Father began to provide for all of my needs in some of the most amazing ways. There were days when a new client would come into the shop and sit with me. After their haircut they would give me over $100! Other times the barbershop would have an unusually busy weekend and I would make more money than ever before! 

Outside of the barbershop, Jesus was working in unexpected ways to provide. I remember an older couple in my Jesus community that handed me an envelope with the exact amount of money I needed to pay one of the bills I wasn’t able to afford on my own that week. Another memory, is a morning before work, I opened my front door and there was an envelope with my name on it full of money. 

Week after week I would give the amount of money God asked me to give to my Jesus community and pray for the faith to trust in His provision. Each and every week I would receive enough money to pay my bills and put food in my fridge. It was a terrifyingly amazing time in my life.

Right as I felt as if I was grasping the idea of giving generously Jesus took me deeper. I would be at work and I would sense Holy Spirit tugging on me. I would have a strong desire to leave the shop and head to coffee shops to talk to people about Him. Other times, I felt prompted to head into work late so that I could help someone in need. 

(I want to remind everyone that I was working at a barbershop in which I had total and complete control of my schedule and hours. I would not have been able to do this had I been working a job that had a set schedule.)

I could go on and on. Just ask Raquel or anyone from our Jesus community. 

To this day, Jesus has continued to call Raquel and I to give more and more of our money, resources, time, and energy to those around us. It was and is terrifying each and every time, but God has never failed us or let us down.

Listen to what I just said… He NEVER failed us. Not once.  

Raquel and I got married on a beautiful farm in 2016, for free. Decorations, photos, catering, rent and insurance for the parking lot, the cake, even our honeymoon. All of it was at no cost to Raquel and I. I’m typing this on the couch sitting in the living room of a house that Raquel and I couldn’t afford but God gave to us anyway. I could talk about iPads, iMacs, iPhones, Televisions, Cars, and much more. All provided for by our Father who has shown us that He ALWAYS provides more than enough His kids.

Ready for the kicker? Raquel and I are not in debt. We have never racked up credit card debt, we have never borrowed money from our parents, we never took out personal loans, and each and every one of our bills have been paid in full and on time. This has been the case ever since Jesus ask me to start giving generously and I obeyed Him. 

Raquel and I have both been out of work for months, and God continued to provide in the same way. Every bill paid, every need met.

And we still live this way. Why? Because we trust God is a good Father who provides for all of His children.

This is the discipline of giving. Giving freely because it reminds us that our Father will always take care of us. 

The discipline of giving is a more difficult (in my opinion) discipline because it requires trust in who Jesus says He is. A Good Father who always takes care of us. Not just saying that we trust Him, but showing it with our actions. It’s a discipline that constantly asks the question:

“Do you believe that your Father will provide everything you need?”

And then asks us to put our money, time, attention, energy, resources, where our mouth is. 

If embraced and leaned into, the discipline of giving aligns our thinking about giving and provision, with our Creator’s. We can give generously, in any situation, whether out of poverty or excess, because our Father has already given us more than enough.

Until next time,

We Are Ecclesia