Matthew 6:24
“'No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." NASB
Many of us have heard of the doctrine of giving expecting to receive in proportion or above what we have given, but this is not a Biblical doctrine. This may be shocking to some of you, but what is practiced here is actually the doctrine of trading. The one who did the trading in Scripture was the devil and through his principality of Baal (god of agriculture in charge of the Satanic economic system who is worshiped by many who practice the occult and idolatry) and his spirit of Mammon (a half man-half bull symbol of the god of wealth and riches obtained by greed). This is also the system used in the world and those under the influence of this principality who give only with the expectation of receiving something in return, especially for their own benefit.
One example of this is when Haman wanted to give 10,000 sacks of silver to see that the Jewish people living within the provinces within the rule of King Xerxes were eliminated. He traded the money with the expectation of witnessing the elimination of the Jewish people in that area. He did this for his own benefit as he was used of the enemy with the hopes of expanding his demonic kingdom in the earth through Haman's position of authority in the kingdom of King Xerxes. Esther 3:8-9 says,
8 "Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, 'There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live. 9 If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.'” NLT
Ezekiel 28:16, 18 also describes to us the trading ways of Satan that, after serving the Lord by covering Him with his worship became puffed up and began to do things expecting to receive something in return similar to the worship that God was receiving from him. It says,
16
“'By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones."
18
“You defiled your sanctuaries
By the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
It devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
In the sight of all who saw you."
But the Biblical kind of giving leads us to give unto the Lord in everything we do because we love Him and love our neighbor as we have learned to love ourselves (See Luke 10:27). This is because we are to put our faith (trust) in Him and His mighty power to supply what we need and this way we are fulfilling the law of love. He alone is our source and can fill us with His love, affection, provision, grace, strength, companionship, support, mental clarity, spiritual fortitude, and so on, and He gives those things to us according to the riches of His glory. What is more, He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we could ask or think. Ephesians 3:14-20 explains,
14 "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us."
As we read Philippians 4:14-20, we can see that the people of Philippi helped Apostle Paul in his challenging times by sending financial aid to him again and again. They understood the true Biblical principle of giving and receiving where they gave, especially to partner with him in order to support him in fulfilling his calling in Macedonia and Thessalonica. By this, they understood that God Himself would count it to their account as an offering made unto Him. They also understood as the Apostle stated that God was the one that would supply all of their needs according to the riches of His glory and for His glory alone. The Scripture says,
14 “Nevertheless you have done well that you shared in my distress. 15 Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. 16 For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. 18 Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. 19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Likewise, Matthew 6:19-21 admonishes, 19 “'Do not store up for yourselves [material] treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart [your wishes, your desires; that on which your life centers] will be also." AMP
However, Luke 6:37-38 has been a passage greatly misunderstood and widely used in the church to explain the giving of tithes and offerings. But in reality, what it tells us is that as we give, we are sowing. Yes, we are sowing not only in the area of finances for our times of need, but also for the times when we need not be judged, nor condemned, but forgiven. This is true in the area of relationships when we give to others that may not be giving to us in the same proportion of love, care, attention, forgiveness, favor, or understanding we are giving to them. But also when it is us who need to come up higher in these areas to build trust from others. For this, we may need forgiveness and another chance to give and sow towards the restoration of the relationships God has given to us that we did not value before. The Scripture states,
37 “’Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.’”
Those who follow the demonic system or trading get upset and are quick to break and see their relationships deteriorate when others do not do for them what they expect because they go into the relationship expecting something to be done for them. They have been conditioned by the influence of the ruler of this world to not give as unto the Lord in order to be a blessing to others. But the true Biblical way of giving says that we give and sow love, affection, understanding, friendship, honor, and other things to our parents, siblings, spouses, children, friends, bosses, and others just as we may want them to give to us as described by the Golden Rule (See Luke 6:31).
In respect to the social psychology employed in this world, we are expected to live under the law of reciprocity which says, according to Google.com that— “when someone does something nice for you, you will have a deep-rooted psychological urge to do something nice in return. As a matter of fact, you may even reciprocate with a gesture far more generous than their original good deed.”
This may sound good except for when we give or do something for others with the wrong motive of expecting something to be done for us, but get disappointed when we choose to do the deed with the idea of trading instead of giving and trusting God to supply what we need. Furthermore, in many cases we may be doing the giving unto others, but what causes us to falter in expecting from people as only God can give to us because of our lack of intimacy and communion with Him. It is from this place that we can receive the things we need because He is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him and He rewards us with what we need which He already knows we need.
Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Matthew 6:31-33 also says, 31 "Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." NASB
Those who do not seek Him, expect others to give to them what only God can give. But we are not designed to give as God gives without drawing that kind of giving through our relationship with Him. A great example of the true Biblical principle of giving to others as we give unto the Lord, trusting Him to supply our needs is found in Ephesians 6:5-8. This particular example may be about how we are to conduct ourselves in the marketplace or places of employment, but it is a great representation of how we are to give to those around us. It explains to us,
5 “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. 6 Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. 7 Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 8 Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.”
To God alone be all the glory. ▪
Images courtesy of Google Images
Scriptures taken from the New King James Version NKJV unless otherwise noted.
