Honor the Lord with Your Wealth
We are told to live by every word of God because God wants to teach us how to be zealous for good works (Titus 2:14). He wants to teach us to be giving, loving, sharing, caring and charitable people. He wants to make us into the servants of the most (Mark 10:43-45).
God wants you to be a willing giver, from the heart, not a person who gives only out of a sense of guilt. He wants to bless you in your life until you have no more needs (Mal. 3:10). He wants you to reap bountifully. He wants to give you abundance so you can have abundance for every good deed (2 Cor. 9:8). He wants you to trade in your old life of getting for a new life of giving. He wants you to multiply your substance or money (seed for sowing) so you may increase your righteousness (2 Cor. 9:10-11).
God promises that if you give, He will inspire others to pour blessings into your lap until it is running over. To whatever extent you serve others, God Himself will return blessings to you (Luke 6:38). The Lord is not only telling you to do good with your money, but also to serve others with your time. However, where a man’s treasure (money) is, that is where his heart is also (Matt. 6:21).
When you honor the Lord with the first of your substance, you set it apart as God’s money and do good with it (Prov. 3:9). Some people set a fruit jar on the dresser to remind them to disburse God’s money. As the portion in God’s money jar grows, God wants to teach you how to do more good with it and live a life that is blessed. He wants to train you in righteousness by allowing you to disburse His money to those in need. You will discover all kinds of things you can do with God’s money that will glorify Him (Matt. 5:16).
Would not this be quite a world to live in if everyone would honor the Lord out of each paycheck and get involved in doing good with it for God? People would be so busy doing good, they would not have time to get into trouble and do evil. Instead, they would be overcoming evil by doing good (Rom. 12:21; Psalm 34:14; 37:3, 27; 1 Peter 3:10-11).
God says we are considered righteous when we practice righteousness to please Him (1 John 3:7, 10). When we practice righteousness from the heart, we are truly born of God and we are fulfilling the purpose for which we were created (1 John 2:29; 3 John 11; Eph. 2:10). That is why we are reminded not to get weary in well-doing (2 Thess. 3:13; Gal. 6:9; Rom. 2:7).
Yes, sowing seeds of righteousness always results in a life of blessings from God (Eph 6:8). Won’t you get involved in disciplining yourself for the purpose of godliness (1 Tim. 4:7)? Imitate God daily until Christ is formed in you (Eph. 5:1; Gal. 4:19). You will be a doer of God’s word and live as Jesus said to live (John 8:51; 1 John 2:5-6, 17).