As we begin the new year, Converge churches and missionaries from around the globe will embark on 21 Days of Prayer. Join us on this prayer journey by reading the daily entries on Converge’s blog, or by downloading your free 21 Days of Prayer: Upside-down Kingdom guide (English/Spanish). In addition, you can share daily posts from our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds. Thank you for joining us as we open 2022 in prayer together.
Day 11: Giving to the needy
Matthew 6:1-4
1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, continuously challenges his hearers on the difference between outward religion and inward righteousness and what it truly means to live in his Kingdom now. He applies this challenge of Outward vs. Inward to several topics, and in this passage, it is “giving.”
Although giving was always a part of the worship of Israel, it had become a way to show off their abundance and to boast about what they could give. Jesus’ point here is to not be a showoff when it comes to giving. Others do not need to know what you give or how much you give. Giving is truly a heart matter, meant to worship and please God, and should be done without others knowing.
In a similar way in today’s world, we can get so focused on a number or percent that we lose track of what God is really asking us to give. Not how much, but how we should give. In Mark 12:42-44, Jesus compares the giving of a widow’s penny to that of a pharisee. He states that the pharisee, who gave much, gave out of his overflow or abundance. However, the widow gave out of her BIOS, or her livelihood. She literally gave what she needed to live on. True trust does not come in giving what we can spare, but in giving what will challenge our faith.
How are you giving? Are you focused on a percent, giving for show or giving to God in secret and out of your livelihood? Are you truly trusting God to provide for you and to bless you in ways that only you will know?
Prayer
Lord, help me to give in a way that pleases you and you alone. Help me to give my life and resources for you and your Kingdom, and help me to grow in my faith through it. Help me not to seek to impress others but to seek to love you and to love others through what I do and give. Help me to be like the widow who gave all she had. She showed true trust and obedience and in that was truly blessed. Amen.
