Perspectives to Christian Giving: Unconditional Giving

Perspectives to Christian Giving: Unconditional Giving

Giving isn't natural to man, particularly after the fall. Adam and Eve covered from each other as they lost the nature of God to gain the selfish nature. Self protection, self centeredness and individuality stepped in. Each was blaming someone else for his and her actions and no one wanted to take any responsibility of his and her deeds.

The selfish thing just continued and spread from there. Man began to fight to win to himself what's already more than enough. He will hold on till death to what is of no use to him. He forgot that he came naked and would leave here taking nothing.

He will always have reasons not to give. He would demand certain qualifications from the receiver before giving. The truth however is that it's hardly possible to be qualified for any kind of grace either from God or from man and if giving is based on perfection to enjoy such, none would ever be qualified and so it won't happen among men.

And then Jesus came!

Jesus came demanding us to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. Oh! That should mean never touching anything called sin, yes but the perfection He came to show us is particularly tied to the nature of God's unconditional giving.

[My Offline Bible] Matthew 5
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. 43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

This is what Jesus called perfection, being the child of God, being perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. I know this isn't in the realm of man. Human nature won't take this and even those who 'believe' in Christ will still argue it.

And it is understandable. The nature of God we received at our submission to the Lordship of Christ that gave us the new birth and the new creation carries the capacity to make us live like God. But human nature has no such capacity at all, as compassionate as we expect motherly love to be, it can still forsake her suckling child under certain conditions. You don't teach a child to be selfish, it comes naturally and it's only 'outgrown' in Christ.

So the burden of transformation is on renewing our minds to accept Christ in this regard.

Jesus Christ gave a parable of the judgment seat. Where He would tell people how they didn't feed Him when He was hungry, how He wasn't clothed when naked, how He wasn't visited when sick or in prison and how people will wonder when they saw him so and didn't help.

Now, the reason why we see the naked, the hungry, the prisoner and overlook them not knowing Christ is in them is driven home in the prisoner's case.

He has issues. He was a thief or a criminal of another sort. He deserves to be in prison. His character isn't nice, so he missed his opportunity. He was stubborn, he wouldn't listen to instructions and training, he deserves much more than he's even getting. We are therefore justified not giving him.

But Jesus would have none of our excuses. He wants us to shine our sun and cause our rain to fall on both the good and the bad even in our judgment.

And He has a right to demand such grace from us since He worked to earn for us grace. Grace to be like God our Father. Today, we brag of the same eternal life we got by grace but we find it hard to yield to the Lordship of that divine nature. Meanwhile to whom we yield our members to obey the same is our master. We have power today to yield to whosoever, it won't be by the compulsion of either the flesh or the Spirit...we have such freedom.

He has a right to demand of us such grace because He did same for us. He didn't wait for us to come to Him, He clothed Himself with frail humanity, as the songwriter said. We had no capacity to love Him first, he had to love us first in order for us to be able to love Him.

While we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly...He gave Himself to a non deserving world. He died for those who will even reject Him through eternity... That's the nature the believer shares from Christ.

[My Offline Bible] Romans 5
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The human nature at its best will give to someone 'qualified' in its judgments and that's even scarce but never for an ungodly man.

Jesus Christ knew we would still struggle with this while He told the parable of the unforgiving steward. The steward was forgiven of an enormous amount he owed, he couldn't extend the same gift to someone owing him some stipends. We have been offered eternity through the grace of Christ, something gaining the whole world can't be good enough for an exchange but we wouldn't show the same magnanimity towards men on material things that perish with the use.

I know this doesn't make any meaning to a world ruled by Caesars economic system. It won't work in a world where only the strong wins bread for himself. This can only be received by those who have been overtaken by the spirit of the kingdom of Christ where the New Creation rules... It won't work in a religious system devoid of the compassion of Christ and it's understandable.

But we who calls ourselves children of God should understand this being beneficiaries of the same grace and of the nature of divinity...

Let's shine the light...and be the salt in a decaying and dark world...

Good morning, More grace to you!