“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Cor. 9:7-8 NIV)

Put God first with with your giving

Susan and I love to give and have done so from the first day of our marriage. We saw in this promise Biblical principles to help us understand and receive blessings from putting God first in our financial matters. I’m happy to report that God has always blessed us dramatically according to this promise in His Word!

What this promise says and what it has taught us about giving

• “God loves a cheerful giver.”   We saw early on from this promise that God loves those who give cheerfully, and we wanted to do and be what He clearly said he “loved”!

• “Give what you have decided in your heart to give.” We always made sure we gave to things we truly believed in and cared about; something we could support wholeheartedly without reservation. We made sure that what we were giving to was producing good results and good fruit.

• “Not reluctantly.”  We fully trusted in the Biblical principle of tithing and understood from God’s Word that the first part of our income (10%) belonged to God and not to us. Therefore, we never considered it to be “our money” but always considered it to be “His money”. Therefore, as soon as our paycheck arrived, we happily wrote our tithe check first, to put “His money” to work for Him.

• “And God is able to bless you abundantly.” And we believed the promise in Malachi 3 that He would bless us for being faithful in this respect. We were convinced that God was able to bless us abundantly, we expected Him to, and He always has! Above and beyond, in fact!

• “In all things at all times, having all that you need.” We believed God would always meet every need (Phil. 4:19), and it has always been so!

• “You will abound in every good work.” We expected God to give us good work to do, to provide employment, and that He would bless us and prosper us in whatever we put our hands to. That, too, has consistently been the case!

A positive test to do

According to Malachi 3:10, God says to test Him on this promise: “Test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” 

It has proven true!

And we HAVE tested Him by our consistent giving throughout the years, and He has always kept his promise! We are blessed!

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Today’s Promise to Memorize* 

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34:8)

Blessed: receiving God's provisions (favor) - as being an extension of his grace; happy, glad, favored, endowed, supplied, granted, furnished, bestowed; godly, holy, sacred. 

Additional References

“And God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters and the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.’” (Gen. 1:22 ESV)

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Psalms 1:1-3 ESV)

“But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:25 ESV)

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matt. 5:3-12 ESV)

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12 ESV)

A Reminder

*Over the next few days I am posting Bible promises every believer MUST know (and commit to memory) to be fully equipped no matter what they are faced with. Meditate on them and memorize them. 

Proven ways to help memorize:

1.     Hand write it on 3x5 card.

2.     Always include the Bible reference at the beginning and repeat it again at the end. 

3.     Read it through several times and think about what it means (mediate on it). 

4.     Say it out loud a few times.  

5.     Refer to it throughout the day and say it to yourself (a few words at a time if necessary) until you can say it correctly without looking.